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Species Cisthene packardii - Packard's Lichen Moth - Hodges#8072

Packard's Lichen Moth - Cisthene packardii Packard's Lichen Moth - Hodges#8072 - Cisthene packardii Packard's Lichen Moth - Hodges #8072 - Cisthene packardii Packard's Lichen Moth - Cisthene packardii Cisthene packardii Moth - Cisthene packardii Packard's Lichen Moth - Cisthene packardii Packard's Lichen Moth - Cisthene packardii
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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 Arctiinae (Tiger and Lichen Moths)
Tribe Lithosiini (Lichen Moths)
Subtribe Cisthenina
Genus Cisthene
Species packardii (Packard's Lichen Moth - Hodges#8072)
Hodges Number
8072
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Cisthene packardii (Grote(1), 1863)
Hypoprepia packardii Grote, 1863
Phylogenetic sequence # 930189
Explanation of Names
Named in honor of entomologist/palaeontologist Alpheus S. Packard Jr..
Numbers
Lafontaine & Schmidt (2010) included 20 species of the genus Cisthene in America north of Mexico. (2)
Size
Wingspan as 14 to 19 mm.(3)(4); mature larva to 12 mm.(4)
Identification
Adult identified by a combination of characters:
-- Basal streak is yellow and separated from inner FW margin by gray (like Subject Lichen Moth); basal streak connects to PM spot (the one on inner FW margin) in "middle", i.e. not at it's apex).
-- PM spot on inner margin is often red near margin, yellow elswhere, and extends a bit forward (towards costal margin) of the junction with basal streak.
-- PM spot on costal margin is red-centered and yellow margined, semicircular with a steep forward margin at costa (compared to low, flared spot on Subject Lichen Moth).
Specimen identified by DNA analysis (BOLD). (5)

Conner et al. (2009) stated the larva are grey to charcoal with wispy setae an yellow pinacula ringed with black; head mottled black. (4)
Range
One of the two most common lichen moths across much of the s. and e. US, ranging from e. Texas, e. Oklahoma, and Kansas, to Florida, north to Missouri, the Ohio Valley, Pennsylvania, and s. New England.(3)(6)(7)(8)(9) Because of confusion with Subject Lichen Moth, many older literature and sight records are unreliable.
Habitat
Barrens and dry oak woodlands in the north and a variety of woodlands and scrubs in the south.(4)
Season
Adults fly from February to December in Florida.(9)
Food
Larvae feed on algae and lichens.(4)(9)
See Also
Cisthene subjecta - color areas usually redder; basal streak meets PM spot on inner margin at its apex; PM spot on costa is flattened and flared out, usually 3X as wide as tall.
Cisthene conjuncta - color areas white with more white fill along inner margin; range only in deep s. Texas. Faded examples of Packard's can look very white.
Print References
Grote, A.R., 1863. Additions to the catalogue of the U.S. Lepidoptera, No. 3. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Philadelphia, 2 (1): 31.
Sexton, C., and H. McGuinness. 2017. Identification of lichen moths in the genus Cisthene in the central and eastern U.S. South. Lep. News 39(4):309-322.
Works Cited
1.Augustus Radcliffe Grote, Lepidopterist (1841-1903)
2.Annotated check list of the Noctuoidea (Insecta, Lepidoptera) of North America north of Mexico.
Donald J. Lafontaine, B. Christian Schmidt. 2010. ZooKeys 40: 1–239 .
3.A Revision of the Species of Cisthene Known to Occur North of the Mexican Border (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae: Lithosiinae)
Carroll B. Knowlton. 1967. Transactions of the American Entomological Society, 93(1): 41-100.
4.Tiger Moths and Woolly Bears: behavior, ecology, and evolution of the Arctiidae.
William E. Conner (ed.). 2009. Oxford University Press.
5.BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data Systems
6.Checklist of the Lepidoptera of Florida
7.A partial checklist of moths from mixed mesophytic hardwood forests in Louisiana (Insecta: Lepidoptera)
Deborah Landau, Dorothy Prowell. 1999. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 125(1+2): 139-150.
8.Caterpillars of Eastern North America
David L. Wagner. 2005. Princeton University Press.
9.Arthropods of Florida and Neighboring Land Areas: Lepidoptera of Florida
J.B. Heppner. 2003. Florida Department of Agriculture 17(1): 1-670.
10.North American Moth Photographers Group
11.Butterflies of North America