Species Schinia thoreaui - Thoreau's Flower Moth - Hodges#11141

11141

Grote & Robinson, 1870

Anthoecia thoreaui, Lygranthoecia thoreaui, Schinia thoreaui

16 to 19 mm long. Wingspan 29 to 37 mm. Our largest Schinia

Thorax: Light or dark brown, very heavily scaled or hairy. Wings: Base and lower area of wings dark brown. Center of wing more grayish or lighter brown; areas very faintly outlined with white. Both dark areas curved, base and lower curve opposite each other. Wing tip border is grayish or lighter brown. Legs: Pale tan. The front shin (tibiae) is hairy and has an obvious series of long black spines in a semi-circular pattern at tip of shin.

Mostly southeastern half of U.S.; Ontario, Canada.

Fields edges and meadows.

Late June to August

Giant Ragweed (Ambrosia trifida)

Females lay large eggs in flower heads of Ragweed. Larvae feed on flowers and developing seeds at night, hiding through the day on lower, usually dead leaves. Pupate below soil surface in early fall (Hardwick 1966). One generation per year. Larva have large heads; green with black spots, When mature, they are entirely brownish-grey, no spots.

Types:

Holotype as Anthoecia thoreaui by Grote & Robinson, 1870. Type Locality: Atlantic District of U.S.A. In the British National Museum of Natural History, London, England.

Transactions of the American Entomology Society, 1870-71, Vol. 3, pg. 181 by Grote & Robinson.

Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, 1875, Vol. 2 by Grote, pg. 220.

Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society, 1938, Vol. 33 by Wyatt, pp. 91-92.

A Monograph to the North American Heliothentinae (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), 1966 by Hardwick: Not Available.

Owlet Caterpillars of Eastern North America, 2011 by Wagner et al., pg. 351.