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Species Petrophila avernalis - Spring Petrophila - Hodges#4781

is this a Petrophila avernalis? - Petrophila avernalis Petrophila? - Petrophila avernalis Crambidae? - Petrophila avernalis - female unknown moth - Petrophila avernalis Petrophila avernalis- - Petrophila avernalis unknown moth - Petrophila avernalis Petrophila avernalis Petrophila avernalis
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 Pyraloidea (Pyralid and Crambid Snout Moths)
Family Crambidae (Crambid Snout Moths)
Subfamily Acentropinae
Tribe Argyractini
Genus Petrophila
Species avernalis (Spring Petrophila - Hodges#4781)
Hodges Number
4781
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Petrophila avernalis (Grote, 1878)
Identification

Identified by the relatively uniform yellow-brown color of the FWs compared to most other Petrophila's. Postbasal, median, preapical, and subterminal white lines are usually crisp and prominent but not straight; the median white line is zigzag near the costa; the preapical white streak is often bent outward as it nears the costa; at its inner end, the preapical white streak bends sharply towards the wing base and may completely surroud the "tornal wedge" of orange. The postmedian area of the FW is often the darkest part of the wing; there is often a white-black-white dash or streak in the discal area of the postmedian portion of the FW. On the HW (rarely visible), Spring Petrophila is one of only two Petrophila species with a row of 7 small black eyespots instead of 5 to 6 large ones; it shares this character with Long-winged Petrophila (P. longipennis) but that species has very diffuse pale crosslines on the FW.
Range
New Mexico and Arizona to North Dakota.
Season
Despite its common name (derived from the Latin species epithet), there are records of the species from February to September; earlier and later flights are detected at southerly latitudes (TX, NM) and mid-summer records in Colorado.