|
Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984); Beadle and Leckie (2012) | Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, GBIF, BOLD | Technical Description, Adults: Forbes (1923) | Technical Description, Immature Stages: Packard (1890) | |
| Adult Markings: Subtly sexually dimorphic. The forewings of the female are brownish to smoky gray, marked by variable black, transverse lines, and are noticeably translucent. The hindwings are largely unmarked gray and also translucent. Males have more attenuated forewings that show a pattern similar to that of the female, though it is typically more lightly marked. The hindwings of the male show a straighter outer margin and may show pale orange or yellow in the median area. As with P. robinae, P. macmurtrei has a thick abdomen, broad thorax, and disproportionally small head. |
| Wingspan: 30 mm, males; 60-75 mm, females (Forbes, 1923). |
| Adult Structural Features: Length from tip of head to apex of forewing at rest averages 30 mm (n=2) (female). |
| Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens. |
| Immatures and Development: Larvae are known as carpenterworms for their wood-boring habits. Last instar is large (up to 2.5 inches) and rather non-descript, being pinkish- or grayish-white with raised black bumps running laterally across each segment and black smudging on the dorsum of the thoracic segments. Head black. Because they develop in wood, larvae are rarely seen; exit holes are more likely to be found. |
| Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos, especially where associated with known host plants. |