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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Owlet Moths and kin (Noctuoidea) » Erebidae » Erebinae » Melipotini » Melipotis » Melipotis perpendicularis - Hodges#8598 (Melipotis perpendicularis)

Species Melipotis perpendicularis - Hodges#8598

Classification · Hodges Number · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Size · Identification · Range · Food · See Also · Print References · Internet References
Moth - Melipotis perpendicularis - female Melipotis perpendicularis? - Melipotis perpendicularis Erebidae - Melipotis perpendicularis Falcon State Park Moth - Melipotis perpendicularis Arizona Moth - Melipotis perpendicularis Melipotis perpendicularis Arizona Moth - Melipotis perpendicularis Arizona Moth - Melipotis perpendicularis
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 Melipotis
Species perpendicularis (Melipotis perpendicularis - Hodges#8598)
Hodges Number
8598
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Melipotis perpendicularis (Guenée, 1852)
Bolina perpendicularis Guenée, 1852
Bolina marmoraris Guenee, 1852
Achaea indistincta Butler, 1878
Melipotis stygialis Grote, 1878
Bolina sphaerita Moschler, 1880
Bolina limitata Moschler, 1886
* phylogenetic sequence #930869
Size
Wingspan 35-40 mm.
Larvae to 33 mm (Crumb, 1956).
Identification
Melipotis perpendicularis in Louisiana - PDF by Vernon Antoine Brou Jr. with figures of four male and four female phenotypes
Range
s. CA to FL-GA - Map (MPG)
Food
Larval host in Arizona is hopbush (Dodonaea viscosa) (Crumb, 1956). That species also occurs in Florida but not within the range of the species in Texas where perhaps some other species in the Sapindaceae may be the host (e.g. soapberry, Sapindus spp., or ???).
See Also
Males are often very similar to Indomitable Melipotis (M. indomita), but can be distinguished by the following combination of characters:
-- The dark patch between the pale reniform spot and median band is more squarish. (It has been likened to the peak-headed profile of a gorilla, rather than the rounded head of a manatee.)
-- The pale reniform spot lacks the sharp tooth on the outer margin as shown on indomita.
-- The thin black line on the outer edge of the reniform spot is continuous on perpendicularis but broken into a series of dashes and an inverted V on indomita.

Melipotis fasciolaris (Hübner) - female
- Range: s. CA to GA-FL
Det. Chuck Sexton, 2010
Print References
Crumb, S. E. 1956. The larvae of the Phalaenidae. USDA Technical Bulletin 1135: 273
Guenée, A. 1852. Histoire naturelle des insectes Lep. 7, Noctuelites 3: 65
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group - MPG
Moth Photographers Group - photograph of pinned adult and related species for comparison
Melipotis perpendicularis in Louisiana - PDF by Vernon Antoine Brou Jr. with figures of four male and four female phenotypes
Contributed by Beatriz Moisset on 7 September, 2006 - 6:54am
Additional contributions by Mike Quinn, Maury Heiman, Chuck Sexton, Randy Hardy
Last updated 17 November, 2020 - 2:37pm

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