Moths of North Carolina
Scientific Name:
Common Name:
 Family (Alpha):
« Home »
View PDFTortricidae Members: Proteoteras Members: 34 NC Records

Proteoteras moffatiana Fernald, 1905 - Maple Bud Borer Moth

Proteoteras moffatianaProteoteras moffatianaProteoteras moffatianaProteoteras moffatiana
Taxonomy
Superfamily:
Tortricoidea		 Family:
Tortricidae		Subfamily:
Olethreutinae		Tribe:
Eucosmini		P3 Number:
51a1138		 MONA Number:
3235.00		 Other Common Names:
Maple Shoot Borer, Gray-flanked Proteoteras
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Beadle and Leckie (2012)Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLD, iNat SearchTechnical Description, Adults: Fernald (1905)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: The fresh adults of this species are distinctive in having a lichen-green ground that is overlain with additional patterning. The following
description is based in part by that of Fernald (1905) and Forbes (1923). The ground color of the head, thorax and forewing of fresh specimens is light to medium green, but worn specimens can have a mosaic of green and silvery-white patches. The ground of the forewing is overlain with several dark marks, including a region in the basal third that is mottled with gray and heavy black marbling (Forbes, 1923). The most prominent mark is a black angular band that begins at the costa just beyond the middle and extends obliquely to the middle of the wing. From there it angles sharply to run roughly parallel with the costa to about three-fourths, then makes a somewhat stepped or arced cut before terminating just before reaching the outer margin. The costa usually has a relatively large dark blotch at around one-fourth and a series of smaller dark spots that increase in size as they extend towards the apex. As in other members of this genus, the thorax and forewings are heavily tufted, which produces a lumpy body appearance. The hindwing and dorsum of the abdomen are fuscous and the cilia have a thin dark marginal line near the base.
Wingspan: 14-20 mm (Heinrich, 1923).
Forewing Length: 7.0-9.5 mm (Gilligan et al., 2008).
Adult Structural Features: Gilligan et al. (2008) provide illustrations of the genitalia. Males have black costal scaling only on the ventral surface of the hindwing. The costal scales adjacent to the hair pencil on the dorsal surface of the hindwing are pale greenish gray (Gilligan et al., 2008).
Genitalia and other structural photos
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: Simmons and Knight (1973) studied a population in Michigan and found that the larvae enter the terminal buds of Sugar Maple in late summer at the point where the leaf petioles attach to the terminal bud and form a wide "V". The larvae mine the buds and overwinter in the excavated space inside the bud. The following spring they leave the dead buds that are used for overwintering and mine additional buds before shoot elongation has been completed. Bud mining and the subsequent loss of the terminal bud cause many saplings to have forked main stems and reduces their value as a source of timber. The larvae measure about 10 mm long when fully grown and are dull orange with black head capsules.
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos, especially where associated with known host plants.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Proteoteras moffatiana is found in eastern North America and primarily in the eastern US, but also in southern Canada from Nova Scotia westward to Ontario. In the US the range extends from the New England states westward through the Great Lakes region to Minnesota, then southward to eastern Oklahoma, Alabama, and Georgia. It is absent or rare in the Coastal Plain. As of 2022 our records are all from the Piedmont and Blue Ridge.
County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.
Proteoteras moffatianaAlamance 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 Hanover 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.