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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Plume Moths (Pterophoroidea) » Plume Moths (Pterophoridae) » Five-lobed Plume Moths (Pterophorinae) » Platyptiliini » Amblyptilia » Geranium Plume Moth - Hodges#6118 (Amblyptilia pica)

Species Amblyptilia pica - Geranium Plume Moth - Hodges#6118

Representative Images

Plume moth - Amblyptilia pica Geranium Plume Moth - Amblyptilia pica Amblyptilia pica 2050 Amblyptilia pica - Geranium Plume Moth 6118 - Amblyptilia pica Geranium Plume Moth - Amblyptilia pica Pterophoridae: Amblyptilia pica? - Amblyptilia pica Geranium or Artichoke Plume Moth? - Amblyptilia pica Geranium Plume Moth - Amblyptilia pica
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 Pterophoroidea (Plume Moths)
Family Pterophoridae (Plume Moths)
Subfamily Pterophorinae (Five-lobed Plume Moths)
Tribe Platyptiliini
Genus Amblyptilia
Species pica (Geranium Plume Moth - Hodges#6118)

Hodges Number

6118

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

formerly placed in genus Platyptilia
5 synonyms: Amblyptilia calisequoiae, crataea, marina, monticola, sierrae

Numbers

the only species in this genus in North America listed at All-Leps

Size

wingspan about 18 mm, based on photo by Jim Vargo at MPG

Identification

See identification key for Platyptiliini.
See the species accounts in Landry (1987)(1) and Barnes & Lindsey (1921)(2) as Platyptilia pica.

Adult: forewing brown or grayish; dark brown to blackish triangle along costa in PM area, and dark band across wing in subterminal area; several pale transverse lines along inner margin give a stippled effect (a distinctive feature); hindwing third lobe with distinct scale tooth
male genitalia are unique in having a sclerotized cucullus and bristled uncus and saccus:

Range

western North America from Alaska to California, inland to Alberta and Kansas; also occurs in northeastern states (KY, ME, MA, NH, NY, PA) and Ontario, as a greenhouse pest on geraniums

Habitat

fields and meadows where larval host plants grow; commercial greenhouses

Season

adults fly from May to October but are most numerous in summer

Food

larvae mine the leaves and also feed on flower buds and seeds of indian paint brush (Castilleja spp.), Furbish's Lousewort (Pedicularis furbishiae), California Figwort (Scrophularia californica), Penstemon whippleanus, plus plants in the families Primulaceae, Labiatae, and Caprifoliaceae, and ornamental (greenhouse) geraniums and snapdragons
adults in early spring nectar on flowers of pussy willow (Salix spp.)

Life Cycle

overwinters as an adult

See Also

Artichoke Plume Moth (Platyptilia carduidactyla) forewing lacks "stippled effect" (several pale transverse lines) along inner margin, and usually has reddish shading in subterminal area

Internet References

pinned adult image plus description, flight season, adult and larval foodplants, biology, distribution (Strickland Entomological Museum, U. of Alberta)

Works Cited

1.A synopsis of the plume-moths of the subfamily Platyptiliinae (Lepidoptera: Pterophoridae) of eastern Canada
Bernard Landry. 1987.
2.The Pterophoridae of America, north of Mexico
William Barnes & A. W. Lindsey. 1921. The Review Press.
Contributed by Robin McLeod on 15 April, 2006 - 3:38pm
Additional contributions by treichard, Blocky, Robert H. Biagi
Last updated 17 March, 2025 - 2:25pm

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