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Species Evergestis pallidata - Purple-backed Cabbageworm - Hodges#4897

moth - Evergestis pallidata Purple-backed Cabbageworm - Hodges #4897 - Evergestis pallidata Evergestis pallidata - Purple-backed Cabbageworm 4897 - Evergestis pallidata Purple-backed Cabbageworm? - Evergestis pallidata Purple-backed Cabbageworm - Hodges#4897 - Evergestis pallidata Crambidae, Purple-backed Cabbageworm - Evergestis pallidata moth - Evergestis pallidata Evergestis pallidata? - Evergestis pallidata
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 Pyraloidea (Pyralid and Crambid Snout Moths)
Family Crambidae (Crambid Snout Moths)
Subfamily Glaphyriinae
Genus Evergestis
Species pallidata (Purple-backed Cabbageworm - Hodges#4897)
Hodges Number
4897
Size
wingspan 19-29 mm
Identification
Adult: forewing pale yellowish to light brown with sharp median and PM lines; ring-like marking in upper median area resembles a tied knot (a diagnostic feature); hindwing light gray with dark terminal band and partial PM line
Range
Newfoundland west across Canada, south to Colorado, east to Virginia and Maryland
also occurs in Europe and western Asia
Season
adults fly from May to September
larvae present in August and September
Food
larvae feed on bittercress, cabbage, radish, horseradish, turnip, and other plants in the mustard family
Remarks
Considered invasive in this country. (Capinera, John L. North American Vegetable Pests. The Pattern of Invasion. American Entomologist. Spring 2002). From Europe. If so it has been in North America since the 1800s.
See Also
no similar species: the ring-like "tied knot" marking on the forewing is diagnostic
Internet References
live adult image (Larry Line, Maryland)
pinned adult image (David Smith, Furman U., South Carolina)
pinned adult image (Bert Gustafsson, Swedish Museum of Natural History)
pinned adult image (James Adams, Dalton State College, Georgia)