Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
 

Clickable Guide

Interactive image map to choose major taxa Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar

Upcoming Events

National Moth Week was July 19-27, and the Summer 2025 gathering in Louisiana, July 19-27

Photos of insects and people from the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2024

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

Photos of insects and people from the 2019 gathering in Louisiana, July 25-27

Species Sthenopis purpurascens - Four-spotted Ghost Moth - Hodges#0019

Representative Images

Four-spotted Ghost Moth - Sthenopis purpurascens Four-spotted Ghost Moth - Sthenopis purpurascens Unknown Moth - Sthenopis purpurascens Hepialidae: Sthenopis purpurascens - Sthenopis purpurascens - female 270713 Moth - Sthenopis purpurascens Hepialidae: Sthenopis purpurascens - Sthenopis purpurascens Large Orange Moth with eggs - Sthenopis purpurascens - female moth - Sthenopis purpurascens
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 Hepialoidea (Ghost Moths)
Family Hepialidae (Ghost Moths)
Genus Sthenopis
Species purpurascens (Four-spotted Ghost Moth - Hodges#0019)

Hodges Number

0019

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Sthenopis purpurascens (Packard, 1863)
Gorgopis purpurascens Packard, 1863
Synonym:
Sthenopis quadriguttatus (Grote, 1864)

Size

Wingspan 66-100 mm.

Food

The larvae bore into the roots of poplars, willows or alder.

Print References

Powell, J. A. & P. A. Opler, Moths of Western North America, Pl. 13.1f; p. 36.(1)

Internet References

Moth Photographers Group(2)
E.H. Strickland Museum
BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data System (3)

Works Cited

1.Moths of Western North America
Powell and Opler. 2009. UC Press.
2.North American Moth Photographers Group
3.BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data Systems
Contributed by Lynette Elliott on 17 July, 2006 - 10:43am
Additional contributions by Chuck Entz, Maury Heiman, Ron M., Kyhl Austin
Last updated 10 July, 2018 - 11:37pm

Disclaimer: Dedicated naturalists volunteer their time and resources here to provide this service. We strive to provide accurate information, but we are mostly just amateurs attempting to make sense of a diverse natural world. If you need expert professional advice, contact your local extension office.

Contributors own the copyright to and are solely responsible for contributed content.
Click the contributor's name for licensing and usage information.
Everything else copyright © 2003-2025 Iowa State University, unless otherwise noted.

Bugguide is hosted by:

Plant Pathology, Entomology and Microbiology at Iowa State University logo

Printer Friendly Version 		Terms of Use
Privacy Statement
Site Map
Contact