Moths of North Carolina
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Notocelia Members:
43 NC Records

Notocelia rosaecolana (Doubleday, 1850) - Doubleday's Notocelia Moth

Taxonomy
Superfamily: Tortricoidea Family: TortricidaeSubfamily: OlethreutinaeTribe: EucosminiP3 Number: 621105.00 MONA Number: 3208.00
Comments: Notocelia rosaecolana and N. trimaculana are two species that are difficult to separate based on either wing patterning or genitalia. These species are found in the Old World and one or both were thought to have been introduced into the US where they feed primarily on cultivated roses. Miller et al. (2000) reported that the presence or absence of melanic sex scales on the hindwing of males is a diagnostic trait that can be used to separate the two species. Specimens that they examined from throughout the US all appear to be N. rosaecolana, and N. trimaculana is now assumed to be restricted to the Old World.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLD                                                                                 
Adult Markings: The following is based in part on the original description by Doubleday (1850). The antenna, palps, head, thorax, and basal third of the forewing are a rich dark brown and concolorous. The ground of the remaining portion of the forewing is milky white and the interface with the brown basal area is scalloped. The whitish ground on the apical two-thirds of the forewing is overlain with a mixture of lead-colored blotches and brown blotches that often have blackish marks within. The most prominent dark mark is an extensive area of warm brown that extends from the dorsal margin just before the tornus to near the middle of the wing. It typically has a conspicuous blackish subdorsal spot within, along with one or more small blackish dots or dashes near the terminal end. Lead-colored blotches are usually present on both the anterior and posterior sides. A second region of warm brown coloration occurs in the subapical region on the costal two-thirds where it is often intermixed with small amounts of whitish and lead coloration. A group of 2-5 short, black, longitudinal dashes occur at around four-fifths that extend in a stacked series near the middle of the wing. The cilia are mostly fuscous -- but become whitish towards the anal angle -- and the costa is obliquely streaked with brown to brownish-black strigulae. The hindwing and cilia are both pale fuscous.
Wingspan: 17-20 mm
Forewing Length: 6.5-9 mm (Miller et al., 2000)
Adult Structural Features: Males have melanic sex scales in a fold between hindwing vein 3A and the anal wing margin. The scales are near the base of a brown to blackish hair pencil that lies in the fold.
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: The larvae feed primarily on roses but detailed studies of the larval ecology are unreported. They bind the leaves of young shoots together with silk and feed within this shelter. The larvae are purplish-brown above and whitish beneath with a brown head (Meyrick, 1895).
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Notocelia rosaecolana appears to be native to Europe but has been introduced in other areas including South Korea, Japan, and nearby areas in southeastern China. Populations in the US are presumed to be introduced, and can be found throughout eastern North America and the Pacific Northwest. In the East, the range extends from New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island southwestward through the Great Lakes region to Minnesota, and southward through much of the eastern US to South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and central Tennessee. Populations are rarely encountered in the Coastal Plain. As of 2022, our records are all from the Piedmont and lower elevation sites in the Blue Ridge.
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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