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Photo#738236
Phaeora cristifera, Hodges #6764 ? - Iridopsis - male

Phaeora cristifera, Hodges #6764 ? - Iridopsis - Male
Camp Wood, Edwards County, Texas, USA
July 1, 2012
I thought this one might be Phaeora cristifera. I realize these are very confusing, but I wanted to present this moth too.

Moved
Moved from Anavitrinella.

Moved
Moved from Geometrid Moths.

Moved
Moved from Moths.

Hi Ann, I think this moth many be an Iridopsis vellivolata.
Check out the thumb below and notice how the AM and PM lines almost come together near the inner margin and then begin to widen out again. Also check out the hollow discal spots on the hind wing. Your moth is darker than most and the colors are diluted but I think it's one of these. Check it out and see what you think.

 
Hello
Jack. Sorry to take so long to answer your question. I have been reviewing all of the moths that I have categorized as Iridopsis. They REALLY confuse me. I have lots of them and many look different to me, but they usually turn out to be Iridopsis defectaria.

I usually put most of my darker ones into files labeled Common Gray, Hodges 6590 because of an ID by RLZ. See photo for his helpful tips. Now that you have pointed out the importance of the hollow discal spots I am probably going to post some of my more distinctly marked moths to see how THEY get Identified.

As for this particular moth, you may well be right but I think it is too worn to be sure. I would delete it but I think your comments might be helpful to others. Maybe it would be safe to move it to genus only.

Thanks for all of your thoughtful placements. You have really been busy!

 
No thanks necessary, It's a learning
experience for me and I'm enjoying it.

I'm not at all confident what this is either so to be safe I'll just move it to Family where an expert might be more likely to find it. LIke you said, it's a confusing bunch. The lines and hollow spots by themselves aren't necessarily diagnostic, just a couple of characteristics that can help narrow things down a bit.
BTW
You do know that anytime you're confident of an ID you can move your own images don't you? Working on the backlog I've come across dozens of moths that have been correctly ID'd but for one reason or another are still sitting in Moths months (in some cases years) later. Just wanted to mention that in case you weren't aware of it.

Keep shootin those Texas moths!

 
.
Yes I do know. I hope you haven't found any of mine. I actually try to get mine moved from ID to Moths before some expert has to do it.

I will start going through my old ones just to be sure.

Moved
Moved from ID Request.

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