Moths of North Carolina
Scientific Name:
Common Name:
 Family (Alpha):
« »
View PDFNoctuidae Members:
Xestia Members:
8 NC Records

Xestia c-nigrum (Linnaeus, 1758) - Lesser Black-letter Dart Moth

Taxonomy
Superfamily: Noctuoidea Family: NoctuidaeSubfamily: NoctuinaeTribe: NoctuiniP3 Number: 933588.00 MONA Number: 10942.00
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Beadle and Leckie (2012)Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLD                                                                                 
Forewing Length: usually 14 to 18 mm (Lafontaine, 1990)
Adult Structural Features: Distinguished from X. dolosa by forewing length (Lafontaine, 1998)
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable only by close inspection of structural features or by DNA analysis.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution:
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)

Click on graph to enlarge
Habitats and Life History
Habitats:
Larval Host Plants: Larvae are polyphagous, feeding on a wide range of plants, including many cultivated species. Reported hosts include alfalfa, barley, blueberry, chokeberry, clover, corn, cranberry, dandelion, flax, goldenrod, grape, lettuce, maple, nettle, oats, pear, sunflower, tobacco, tomato, viburnum, and wheat (Crumb, 1932; Robinson et al., 2010). - View
Wikipedia
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status:
Natural Heritage Program Ranks:
State Protection: Has no legal protection, although permits are required to collect it on state parks and other public lands.
Comments:

 Photo Gallery for Xestia c-nigrum - Lesser Black-letter Dart Moth

Photos: 1

Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2023-09-05
Buncombe Co.
Comment: forewing length = 17 mm.