Moths of North Carolina
Scientific Name:
Common Name:
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View PDFNoctuidae Members: Xestia Members: 11 NC Records

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


Xestia c-nigrumXestia c-nigrum
Taxonomy
Superfamily:
Noctuoidea
Family:
Noctuidae
Subfamily:
Noctuinae
Tribe:
Noctuini
P3 Number:
933588
MONA Number:
10942.00
Other Common Name:
Setaceous Hebrew Character
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Beadle and Leckie (2012)Online Resources: 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.
Xestia c-nigrumAlamance Alexander Alleghany Anson Ashe Avery Beaufort Bertie Bladen Brunswick Buncombe Burke Cabarrus Caldwell Camden Carteret Caswell Catawba Chatham Cherokee Chowan Clay Cleveland Columbus Craven Cumberland Currituck Dare Davidson Davie Duplin Durham Edgecombe Forsyth Franklin Gaston Gates Graham Granville Greene Guilford Halifax Harnett Haywood Henderson Hertford Hoke Hyde Iredell Jackson Johnston Jones Lee Lenoir Lincoln Macon Madison Martin McDowell Mecklenburg Mitchell Montgomery Moore Nash New%20Hanover Northampton Onslow Orange Pamlico Pasquotank Pender Perquimans Person Pitt Polk Randolph Richmond Robeson Rockingham Rowan Rutherford Sampson Scotland Stanly Stokes Surry Swain Transylvania Tyrrell Union Vance Wake Warren Washington Watauga Wayne Wilkes Wilson Yadkin Yancey
Flight Dates:
 High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
 Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
 Piedmont (Pd)
 Coastal Plain (CP)

Click on graph to enlarge
Image showing flight dates by month for High Mountains greater than 4,000 feet, Low Mountains, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain: adults.
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: [W-PK]
Natural Heritage Program Ranks: G5 SNR [S2S3]
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

Photos: 4
Xestia c-nigrumRecorded by: Jim Petranka on 2024-09-03
Madison Co.
Comment:
Xestia c-nigrumRecorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2023-09-05
Buncombe Co.
Comment: forewing length = 17 mm.
Xestia c-nigrumRecorded by: Darryl Willis on 2022-09-10
Cabarrus Co.
Comment:
Xestia c-nigrumRecorded by: Darryl Willis on 2019-09-01
Cabarrus Co.
Comment: