Species fulvicollis (Yellow-collared Scape Moth - Hodges#8267)
Hodges Number
8267
Other Common Names
Orange-collared Scape Moth (Moths of North Dakota) - a more appropriate name than "Yellow-collared", as the vast majority of individuals have an orange collar
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Scepsis packardii Grote, 1865
Cisseps packardii (Grote, 1865)
Scepsis matthewi H. Edwards, 1873
Scepsis packardii cocklei Dyar, 1904
Cisseps wrightii (Stretch, 1885)
Explanation of Names
Cisseps fulvicollis (Hübner, [1818])
Size
Wingspan 30-37 mm
Identification
Adult: FW dark brown or black; collar orange, occasionally yellow; thorax black; abdomen black, sometimes with blue iridescence; antennae pectinate. HW black with large translucent patch in discal area; translucent patch may appear pale grayish, bluish or white, depending on lighting. Often confused with Virginia Ctenucha and Grapeleaf Skeletonizer [see distinguishing features of those species in See Also section below]
Larva: hairy, whitish or pale yellow, with tufts of long hair springing from oval or round spots along body; hairs near head longer, usually blackish and projecting forward beyond front of head; head yellow to brownish-orange with black spots on face; dark dorsal and dorsolateral lines along body (may be obscured by hair)
Adult Grapeleaf Skeletonizer (Harrisina americana) abdomen is usually curled upwards and expanded at the tip into a fan-shaped, somewhat bilobed caudal tuft
Adult Virginia Ctenucha (Ctenucha virginica) is larger, has blue iridescence on the thorax, completely black hindwings with no translucent patch, and does not occur in the southeastern United States (compare images of both species).
Hannah Nendick-Mason summarizes identification of these moths thus: It seems to me the shape of the yellow "collar" is a good distinction. In Ctenucha it is narrower at the nape and then spreads down to the shoulders (excuse ignorance of a better technical term). In Cisseps it goes almost straight across forming a neat line, and in Harrisina the line is blurred.
Grote, A.R., 1865. Descriptions of North American Lepidoptera - No. 6. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Philadelphia 4: 318.
Himmelman, p. 188, plate C-3, compares Ctenucha and Cisseps(3)
Lafontaine, J. Donald and B. Christian Schmidt. 2015. Additions and corrections to the check list of the Noctuoidea (Insecta, Lepidoptera) of North America north of Mexico III. ZooKeys 527: 127–147 (available here)
