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Species Papaipema impecuniosa - Aster Borer - Hodges#9473

Moth - Papaipema impecuniosa A Noctuid Moth - Papaipema impecuniosa porch light unknown  - Papaipema impecuniosa porch light unknown  - Papaipema impecuniosa Aster Borer - Hodges#9473 - Papaipema impecuniosa Aster Borer - Papaipema impecuniosa Papaipema impecuniosa Papaipema impecuniosa in Maryland - Papaipema impecuniosa
Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily Noctuoidea (Owlet Moths and kin)
Family Noctuidae (Owlet Moths)
Subfamily Noctuinae (Cutworm or Dart Moths)
Tribe Apameini
Genus Papaipema (Borer Moths)
Species impecuniosa (Aster Borer - Hodges#9473)
Hodges Number
9473
Other Common Names
Impecunious Borer
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
First described in 1881 by Augustus Radcliffe Grote as Gortynia impecuniosa
Papaipema impecuniosa
Explanation of Names
Latinized from impecunious: "having no money; poor". Grote doesn't say why he chose the name- perhaps it has something to do with looking like cheap or ragged clothing.
Identification
Adult: forewing dark yellow with heavy and dark reddish speckling to PM line, purplish-gray between PM and ST lines, and dark brown beyond ST line except for pale apical patch; reniform, orbicular, and claviform spots dark yellow, showing little contrast agains median area; PM line double; diffuse black median line forms shallow V shape; overall dark reddish-brown color of forewing is more uniform than other Papaipema species
hindwing grayish, darker toward outer margin
Range
Nova Scotia to Georgia, west to Illinois, north to Wisconsin and Ontario
Season
adults fly from August to October
Food
larvae bore into stems and roots of aster and sneezeweed (Helenium spp.)
Life Cycle
one generation per year
See Also
Papaipema inquaesita PM line is a sweeping convex arc, and forewing lacks heavy reddish speckling (compare images of both species)
Internet References
common name reference [Impecunious Borer], plus food plants and flight season (Ohio State U.)
distribution map plus list of states/provinces and common name reference [Aster Borer] (NatureServe Explorer)