Moths of North Carolina
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Larisa Members:
58 NC Records

Larisa subsolana Miller, 1978 - No Common Name

Taxonomy
Superfamily: Tortricoidea Family: TortricidaeSubfamily: OlethreutinaeTribe: GrapholitiniP3 Number: 621302.00 MONA Number: 3423.00
Comments: Larisa is a monotypic genus with a single species that is widespread in eastern North America.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Miller (1978)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: The following is based in part on the description by Miller (1978). The labial palp is slightly upturned, with the second segment expanded apically. The antenna is about two-fifths the forewing length and the scaling on the front and crown of the head is dense and bushy. The head, palps, antennae, and thorax are brown. The forewing ground color is light grayish brown to pale gray, often has fine, darker striations, and is sometimes heavily dusted with brown. The ground is overlain by a prominent dark brown basal patch that covers about a third of the wing, and a narrower dark fascia that extends from the costa just beyond the middle of the wing to the subtornal area of the inner margin. The fascia tends to be irregular in width and often with dark shaded on the inward margin that fades into the lighter interfascial area. The apical third of the wing is grayish brown and often has a faintly rusty brown tinge towards the costa. The fringe is grayish brown and the costal margin is faintly marked with a series of dark spots or short streaks. The hindwing is medium brown to grayish brown with a slightly paler fringe. Rhopobota finitimana resembles this species, but does not have a complete median fascia and has a well-developed eyespot at the apex that is lacking in Larisa.
Forewing Length: 3.8-5.8 mm for males; 4.1-6.3 mm for females (Miller, 1978)
Adult Structural Features: Miller (1978) and Gilligan et al. (2008) have illustrations of the male and female genitalia. The following descriptions are based on those of Miller (1978). In males, the uncus is well developed, sclerotized, and bifid. The gnathos is fused ventrally across the middle and the hami are long and finger-like. The valva is simple with a rudimentary clasper. A tuft of fine setae is present on the base of the sacculus, and one to several long, slender setae may be present on the latero-ventral surface of the cucuIIus. The aedeagus is sleeve-like, short, and tapered, and has 8-17 deciduous cornuti. The dorsal plate of the aneIIus is not developed.

In females, the papillae anales are simple, and the posterior apophyses is slightly longer to slightly shorter than the anterior apophyses. The sterigma is shield-shaped with short finger-like projections beside the ostium, which is on the anterior margin. The ductus bursae is short, enlarged near the middle, sclerotized except for a short distance beyond the enlargement, and convoluted at its junction with the corpus bursae. There are two thorn-like signa.
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: The larvae feed on hickories, but details of the larval life history have not been reported.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Larisa subsolana is found in eastern North America, including in portions of southern Canada (Manitoba; Ontario; Quebec) and in much of the eastern US from Maine southward to southern Florida, and westward to central Texas, eastern Oklahoma, eastern Nebraska, and Minnesota. As of 2022 we have records from all three physiographic regions, with the great majority from the Piedmont.
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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