Moths of North Carolina
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View PDFNoctuidae Members:
Agrotis Members:
94 NC Records

Agrotis malefida Guenée, 1852 - Rascal Dart Moth

Taxonomy
Superfamily: Noctuoidea Family: NoctuidaeSubfamily: NoctuinaeTribe: NoctuiniP3 Number: 933526.00 MONA Number: 10661.00
Comments: One of twenty-three species in this genus that occur in North America north of Mexico (Lafontaine and Schmidt, 2010), seven of which have been recorded in North Carolina
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984); Beadle and Leckie (2012)Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLD                                                                                 
Adult Markings: A typical Dart, with a strong blackish claviform spot (Forbes, 1954). This spot strongly contrasts with the light brown ground color of the lower portion of the wing and is not preceded by a basal dash, as found in Agrotis venerabilis and A. volubilis. The orbicular is somewhat irregular but with an elongated extension; both the orbicular and reniform are distinctly darker than the dark shade that extends along the costa to the reniform. A small dark wedge may follow the reniform, similar but smaller than the mark found in A. ipsilon. The collar is blackish in this species, contrasting with the pale tegulae and thoracic crest. The hindwings are pure white in the males, but shaded with fuscous along the veins and towards the outer margin in the females. A. venerabilis and A. volubilis are similar but have a basal dash and more elongated claviform spots. A. ipsilon always has a long dark wedge beyond the reniform.
Wingspan: 40-45 mm (Forbes, 1954)
Adult Structural Features: Male antennae are serrate (Forbes, 1954)
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: While most of our records come from the southeastern coastal plain, we also have scattered records from the Piedmont and low mountains. Possibly absent from higher elevations in the mountains.
County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.
Flight Dates:
 High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
 Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
 Piedmont (Pd)
 Coastal Plain (CP)

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