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Species Ctenucha rubroscapus - Hodges#8264

Possible Ctenucha multifaria - Ctenucha rubroscapus Black Moth - Ctenucha rubroscapus Moth - Ctenucha rubroscapus Red-shouldered Ctenucha - Ctenucha rubroscapus Moth - Ctenucha rubroscapus Moth - Ctenucha rubroscapus - male insect  - Ctenucha rubroscapus Ctenucha rubroscapus
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 Arctiinae (Tiger and Lichen Moths)
Tribe Arctiini (Tiger Moths)
Subtribe Ctenuchina
Genus Ctenucha
No Taxon (rubroscapus/multifaria species complex )
Species rubroscapus (Ctenucha rubroscapus - Hodges#8264)
Hodges Number
8264
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Claucopis rubroscapus Ménétriés, 1857
Ctenucha ochroscapus Grote & Robinson, 1868
Ctenucha corvina Boisduval, 1869
Ctenucha walsinghamii H. Edwards, 1873 [Original description here]
Size
FW length 1.8-2.0 cm (1)
Identification
Narrowly white-tipped on distal tips of wings only, remainder of wings smoky black; patagia** red with black spots (or entirely black...see comments here).
       
** patagia = pair of small articulated plates, one on each side of the dorsum of the prothorax. The patagia are visible in front of the wing bases and mesonotum...and immediately behind the head. (Caution: They can be mistaken as the posterior portion of the head!)
Range
Southern coastal Washington south along the coast and the Sierra Nevada to central California. (1)
Season
A single flight during July.(1)
Food
Adults are diurnal and feed at flowers. The larvae feed on grasses such as Dactylis and Elymus (Poaceae).(1)
Remarks
A 2008 comment by J.D. Roberts indicated Chris Schmidt suspected multifaria and rubroscapus may be variants of the same species.
Works Cited
1.Moths of Western North America
Powell and Opler. 2009. UC Press.