Moths of North Carolina
Scientific Name:
Common Name:
 Family (Alpha):
« »
View PDFTortricidae Members:
Sonia Members:
6 NC Records

Sonia canadana McDunnough, 1925 - Canadian Sonia

Sonia canadanaSonia canadanaSonia canadanaSonia canadana
Taxonomy
Family: TortricidaeP3 Number: 51a1118 MONA Number: 3219.00
Comments: Sonia that occur in the southeastern US are a taxonomically difficult group that likely reflect several lineages that are in various stages of evolutionary divergence and that do not differ markedly in genitalia. Populations in coastal areas of North Carolina have proven to be challenging and likely contain at least two of these ill-defined lineages, including one that resembles S. canadana from the Blue Ridge.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Wright and Gilligan (2023)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: The forewing of this species is dark reddish-brown to blackish brown with a wide interfascial spot or bar that extends obliquely from near the middle of the inner margin before terminating near the middle of the wing. The bar is margined basally with a thin whitish line that separates it from the dark-scaled, posterior region of the basal third of the wing. The dark-scaled regions lightens towards the wing base. Both the bar and the ocellus are heavily speckled with whitish and brownish coloration, and the two are often connected by similarly speckled blotches or lines along the costal half. When a resting individual is viewed from above, the speckled patterning appears to surround a prominent reddish-brown to brownish mark on the inner margin at around three-fourths the wing length.

The following detailed description is from Wright and Gilligan (2023) who examined specimens from Manitoba, Ontario, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, New York, and Ohio. The third segment of the labial palp is black with a few whitish scales at the tip, while the lateral surface of the second segment is whitish to grayish brown, with a scattering of black or brown scales that often coalesce into a dark bar or a pair of dark spots near the dorsal margin. The upper frons is brown, the vertex is pale brown to gray brown, and the antenna has black scaling on the pedicel and a gray patch on the ventral surface of the scape. The forewing color varies from brown to blackish brown, with white speckling or reticulations in the interfascial spot and ocellus. The sub-basal mark is prominent, with its distal margin edged with white and oriented somewhat obliquely with respect to the inner margin. The mid-costal bar is barely discernable, and the discal mark is moderately well defined and usually connected to the postmedian fascia (as in S. paraplesiana). The pretornal mark is separated from the discal mark by a white-edged grayish band that extends distally to the ocellus. The ocellus has a gray band along the proximal margin, a variably expressed white spot in the apical quadrant, a gray spot in the tornal quadrant, and sometimes a few centrally located black spots. The costal strigulae are white and moderately conspicuous.

Many specimens from the Coastal Plain and eastern Piedmont are generally similar, but tend to be less-speckled with the whitish line on the basal edge of the bar on the inner margin poorly expressed. These are of uncertain identify and are not considered to be Sonia canadana as described here.
Forewing Length: 6.1-8.6 mm (Wright and Gilligan, 2023).
Adult Structural Features: Wright and Gilligan (2023) provide descriptions and illustrations of the male and female genitalia. In males, the uncus frequently has a weakly bilobed apex, the distal extremity of the socius is rounded or truncated, and the vesica has 22-56 cornuti. In females, the length of the apophyses anteriores is about 1.5 times that of the apophyses posteriores, and the posterior margin of the lamella postvaginalis is slightly wider than the ostium.
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: The larval life history is poorly documented, but the larvae are thought to bore in the rootstocks of members of the Asteraceae (Wright and Gilligan, 2023).
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Sonia canadana is restricted to eastern North America where is occurs in portions of southern Canada (Manitoba; Ontario; Quebec), and in the US from the New England states westward through the Great Lakes region to Minnesota, and southward to Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina. Apparent geographic isolates also occur in Florida and Texas (BOLD). As of 2024, our very limited site records are from the Piedmont and Blue Ridge.
County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.
Sonia canadana
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: Specimens that Wright and Gilligan (2023) examined from the central and northern portions of the range were captured between 14 ]une and 10 September, with most from August. As of 2024, our records range from mid-May to mid-August.
Habitats and Life History
Habitats: This species is generally associated with old-fields, prairies, glades and other open areas that support members of the Asteraceae such as goldenrods and asters, which are thought to be the hosts.
Larval Host Plants: The hosts are poorly documented. Wright and Gilligan (2023) report one record of a reared specimen that used New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae), and another from a Solidago sp. For the latter, the specimens were not found or confirmed as being those of Sonia canadana. - View
Observation Methods: The adults are attracted to lights.
Wikipedia
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status:
Natural Heritage Program Ranks:
State Protection:
Comments:

 Photo Gallery for Sonia canadana - Canadian Sonia

Photos: 11

Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2024-07-07
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2024-07-07
Madison Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2023-08-05
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2023-08-05
Madison Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2022-06-28
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2022-06-28
Madison Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: David George, L.M. Carlson, Becky Watkins on 2022-06-09
Orange Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: David George, L.M. Carlson, Becky Watkins on 2022-06-09
Orange Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: David George, L. M. Carlson on 2022-05-19
Orange Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2020-08-18
Madison Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2020-08-18
Madison Co.
Comment: