Moths of North Carolina
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Aplectoides Members:
12 NC Records

Aplectoides condita (Guenée, 1852) - No Common Name


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Taxonomy
Superfamily: Noctuoidea Family: NoctuidaeSubfamily: NoctuinaeTribe: NoctuiniP3 Number: 933567.00 MONA Number: 10999.00
Comments: A North American genus with a single species.
Species Status: Specimens from North Carolina have been barcoded and fall within the range of haplotypes that characterize this species. No evidence for multiple species has been observed.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: (Not in either field guide)Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Forbes (1954), as Noctua conditaTechnical Description, Immature Stages: McCabe (1988)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: Adults are large and very mottled, with whitish reniform and orbicular spots (usually but sometimes concolorous) and reddish scaling between the subterminal and postmedial lines. Sexes are similar.
Adult Structural Features: The male and female genitalia are diagnostic but identification would rarely depend on their examination because the maculation is so distinct.
Structural photos
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: Larvae are very similar to those of the related species in the genus Anaplectoides but can be separated based on close inspection of structural features (McCabe, 1988). It is likely that the caterpillar spins a cocoon and aestivates in it through the winter before pupating in the cocoon in the spring and emerging shortly thereafter.
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable from close inspection of specimens or by DNA analysis.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Our records are all above 4000’ and it should be looked for throughout the higher 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)

Click on graph to enlarge
Flight Comments: It is on the wing from late May through June and early July at the highest elevations, which match conditions of much earlier dates at lower elevations.
Habitats and Life History
Habitats: Our records come solely from High Mountain (>4,000') habitats, in association with Northern Hardwood Forests, Spruce-fir Forests, or rock outcrop communities.
Larval Host Plants: McCabe (1988) reared larvae from a wild-caught female on Larch (Larix laricina), a species that does not occur naturally in North Carolina. To a lesser extent, the larvae also fed on Balsam Fir (Abies balsamea), which is closely related to the Fraser Fir (A. fraseri) of the Southern Appalachians. However, we have records from northern hardwood and rock outcrop communities in Macon County where fir is absent, suggesting that some other high elevation plant species is used. It seems likely that the species does not feed on evergreens but is a general feeder on low herbaceous plants and woody shrubs. Robinson et al. (2010) list Eastern White Pine and a species of blueberry, but we are unaware of the source of these records and have not observed larvae in North Carolina. - View
Observation Methods: Adults readily come to light but their response to bait and flowers is unknown.
Wikipedia
See also Habitat Account for General High Elevation Forests
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status: SR
Natural Heritage Program Ranks: G4 S2S3
State Protection: Has no legal protection, although permits are required to collect it on state parks and other public lands.
Comments: We have very few records for this species in North Carolina, all from high elevations summits, suggesting that it may be Pleistocene relict. More work is needed to identify the larval hosts in North Carolina, and hence its exact habitat associations. However, as a high elevation habitat specialist, it is likely to be highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change as well as other impacts that are rapidly degrading the habitats of the highest summits in the Southern Appalachians.

 Photo Gallery for Aplectoides condita - No common name

Photos: 1

Recorded by: Brian Bockhahn on 2023-06-18
Avery Co.
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