Chytolita morbidalis

Chytolita morbidalis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Clade:Euarthropoda
Class:Insecta
Order:Lepidoptera
Superfamily:Noctuoidea
Family:Erebidae
Genus:Chytolita
Species: C. morbidalis
Binomial name
Chytolita morbidalis
(Guenée, 1854)[1]
Synonyms
  • Herminea morbidalis Guenée, 1854
  • Macrochilo morbidalis
  • Chytolita petrealis Grote, 1880
  • Macrochilo petrealis
  • Chytolita fulicalis Smith, 1907
  • Zanclognatha punctiformis Smith, 1895

Chytolita morbidalis, the morbid owlet moth or morbid owlet, is a species of litter moth in the family Erebidae. It is found in large part of North America, from coast to coast in the north and south to North Carolina, Texas and Florida in the west.[2] The habitat consists of deciduous woods and edges.

The wingspan is 29–35 mm. The forewings are pale grayish-white with diffuse, brownish or orangish lines. The hindwings are even paler with faint grayish veins. Adults are on wing from May to August. There seems to be one generation per year.

The larvae feed on the leaves of various deciduous trees and have been reared on dandelion, grass, hazel and lettuce.[3] There are also records for dead leaves, including dried white oak leaves.

Taxonomy

Chytolita petrealis is now considered a synonym of C. morbidalis because DNA barcode analysis has revealed little barcode variation among specimens of both forms examined across a wide geographic range.[1] The smaller, darker "petrealis" form was known by the common names Lesser Gray Chytolita, Stone-winged Owlet or Lesser Luteous Snout.

References

  1. 1 2 Crabo, L.G. ; Davis, M. ; Hammond, P. ; Mustelin, T ; Shepard, J., 2013: Five new species and three new subspecies of Erebidae and Noctuidae (Insecta, Lepidoptera) from Northwestern North America, with notes on Chytolita Grote (Erebidae) and Hydraecia Guenée (Noctuidae). Zookeys 264: 85-123. Abstract and full article: doi:10.3897/zookeys.264.4304
  2. ↑ mothphotographersgroup
  3. ↑ Bug Guide


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.