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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Owlet Moths and kin (Noctuoidea) » Erebidae » Tiger and Lichen Moths (Arctiinae) » Tiger Moths (Arctiini) » Ctenuchina » Ctenucha » rubroscapus/multifaria species complex (Ctenucha rubroscapus/multifaria species complex ) » Ctenucha rubroscapus - Hodges#8264 (Ctenucha rubroscapus)

Species Ctenucha rubroscapus - Hodges#8264

Classification · Hodges Number · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Size · Identification · Range · Season · Food · Remarks · Internet References · Works Cited

Beautiful Red and Black Moth - Ctenucha rubroscapus

Red-Shouldered Ctenucha - 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.

Internet References

Moth Photographers Group

Pacific Northwest Moths

Butterflies and Moths of North America

Works Cited

1.	Moths of Western North America Powell and Opler. 2009. UC Press.

Contributed by Aaron Schusteff on 21 July, 2014 - 8:54pm
Last updated 22 July, 2014 - 8:28pm

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