Species Drasteria occulta - Occult Drasteria Moth - Hodges#8619

Classification · Hodges Number · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Size · Identification · Range · Food · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited

Occult Drasteria Moth - Drasteria occulta

Black and Orange Moth - Drasteria occulta

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 Erebidae

Subfamily Erebinae

Tribe Melipotini

Genus Drasteria

Species occulta (Occult Drasteria Moth - Hodges#8619 )

Hodges Number

8619

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Drasteria occulta (Hy. Edwards, 1881)

Syneda occulta Hy. Edwards, 1881

* phylogenetic sequence #930892

Size

Larvae mature to 26 mm (Crumb, 1956).

Identification

Larvae - generally brown with light brown and blackish lines; head brown with white stripes (Crumb, 1956).

Adult - the only similar Drasteria in D. occulta's range is D. graphica atlantica, which can be differentiated by the well-defined ST line on the forewings. D. occulta's ST line isn't so much a "line" as it is a boundary between the darker and lighter brown portions of the wings. Both these species can be equally common at the same locations in coastal pine barrens habitats such as the New Jersey pine barrens.

Range

Limited to coastal habitats, and it has a fairly limited range from maybe ME to NC.

Food

blueberry (Vaccinium) (Crumb, 1956).

Print References

Crumb, S. E. 1956. The larvae of the Phalaenidae. USDA Technical Bulletin 1135: 272

Edwards, Hy. 1881. Descriptions of some new species of Heterocera. Papilio 1(7): 118

Internet References

Moth Photographers Group – species page (1)

BOLD Systems - images of DNA supported specimens (2)

Works Cited

1.	North American Moth Photographers Group

2.	BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data Systems

Contributed by tom murray on 10 June, 2012 - 8:13am
Additional contributions by Robert Lord Zimlich, Randy Hardy, dennepj10
Last updated 15 November, 2017 - 10:28am

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