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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 » Indomitable Graphic Moth - Hodges#8600 (Melipotis indomita)

Species Melipotis indomita - Indomitable Graphic Moth - Hodges#8600

Classification · Hodges Number · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Size · Identification · Range · Food · Remarks · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Melipotis - Melipotis indomita unknown moth - Melipotis indomita - female Church Windows - Melipotis indomita Noctuid? - Melipotis indomita Melipotis - Melipotis indomita Indomitable Melipotis Moth? - Melipotis indomita Underwing? - Melipotis indomita - female Insect - Melipotis indomita - male
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 indomita (Indomitable Graphic Moth - Hodges#8600)
Hodges Number
8600
Other Common Names
Mesquite Cut Worms
Indomitable Melipotis Moth
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Melipotis indomita (Walker, [1858])
Bolina indomita Walker, [1858]
Phylogenetic sequence # 930871 (1)
Size
Covell (1984) listed the wingspan 4-5 cm. (2)
Powell & Opler (2009) listed the forewing length 20-23 mm. (3)
Crumb (1956) reported the larvae mature to 32 mm. (4)
Identification

              ♂                             ♀
Crumb (1956) described the larva as blackish with gray stripes; head brown. (4)
Males can be suuperficially similar to male Melipotis perpendicularis. On the latter species that the reniform spot lacks a sharp outward point (although it has a bump in the same area) and the dark line on its outer edge is continuous, not broken into a series of dashes as on indomita.
Range
Southern US, mostly sw US (where mesquite occurs), but has strayed n. to Maine to Minnesota - Map (5)(2)
Powell & Opler (2009) states the species is likely a nonproductive migrant in the north.(3)
Food
Crumb (1956)(4) & Covell (1984)(2) listed Mesquite Prosopis (Fabaceae).
Remarks
The most common and widest ranging species of Melipotis spp. (6),(2)
May be active during the day on rotting fruit or flowers (6)
Often attracted to lights in large numbers
Print References
Covell Jr., C.V., 1984. A Field Guide to the Moths of Eastern North America. p.164 (2)
Crumb, S.E., 1956. The larvae of the Phalaenidae. USDA Technical Bulletin 1135: 272. (4)
Powell, J.A. & P.A. Opler, 2009. Moths of Western North America. University of California Press. pl.44.1m, 44.2f, p.257 (3)
Wagner, D. L. 2011. Owlet Caterpillars of Eastern North America. p.148 (7)
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group (5)
Pacific Northwest Moths (8)
The Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) (9)
Works Cited
1.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 .
2.Peterson Field Guides: Eastern Moths
Charles V. Covell. 1984. Houghton Mifflin Company.
3.Moths of Western North America
Powell and Opler. 2009. UC Press.
4.The Larvae of the Phalaenidae [Noctuidae]
Samuel Ebb Crumb. 1956. U.S. Department of Agriculture Technical Bulletin 1135: 1-356.
5.North American Moth Photographers Group
6.Illustrated Checklist of the Lepidoptera of the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas, Vol. 2B: Macro-Moths
Ed Knudson & Charles Bordelon. 2004. Texas Lepidoptera Survey, Houston. xiv + 59 pp. 20 plates.
7.Owlet Caterpillars of Eastern North America
David L. Wagner. 2011. Princeton University Press.
8.Pacific Northwest Moths
9.BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data Systems
Contributed by john and jane balaban on 14 January, 2007 - 11:54am
Additional contributions by Mike Quinn, Maury Heiman, Chuck Sexton, Randy Hardy, PaleoJon
Last updated 15 October, 2020 - 1:17am

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