Moths of North Carolina
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102 NC Records

Platynota exasperatana (Zeller, 1875) - Exasperating Platynota Moth

Taxonomy
Superfamily: Tortricoidea Family: TortricidaeSubfamily: TortricinaeTribe: SparganothiniP3 Number: 620434.00 MONA Number: 3743.00
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Beadle and Leckie (2012)Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Powell and Brown (2012)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: In this species the vertex of the head and the dorsum of the labial palp are usually whitish. The thorax is mostly whitish with varying amounts of fine, darker mottling. The forewing is variable in coloration, but typically has a ground color of dark smoky gray that is overlain with numerous, blackish, irregular, transverse striae with raised scales. A small semicircular patch of pale or white scales is present at the base of the dorsal margin and adjoins the thorax when a resting individual has the wings folded. Most specimens have a dark and often vague, subapical, semicircular patch on the costa about three-fourths the distance from the base to the apex that is preceded by an irregular whitish to dull-white patch. The terminal fourth of the wing is usually lighter than the basal three fourths, with various shades of grayish to ocherous white. Males have a complex hood on the head and a costal fold that terminates before reaching the middle of the wing, while females have palps that are noticeably longer than the males.

Platynota exasperatana resembles P. semiustana but can be distinguished by the presence of pale whitish-yellow scaling on the dorsum of the labial palps (blackish in P. semiustana), and by the presence of a white or cream-colored blotch at the base of the dorsal margin of the forewing.
Forewing Length: 5.5–7.0 mm for males and 6.0–8.0 mm for females (Powell and Brown, 2012)
Adult Structural Features: Males have a costal fold that does not extend to the midpoint of the forewing. Powell and Brown (2012) have illustrations and descriptions of the male and female genitalia.
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from photos showing hindwings, abdomen, or other specialized views [e.g., frons, palps, antennae, undersides].
Immatures and Development: The larval life history is undocumented.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Platynota exasperatana is found throughout most of the eastern US and in adjoining areas of southern Canada (Ontario; Quebec; New Brunswick; Nova Scotia; Prince Edward Island). In the US the range extends from Maine southward to southern Florida, and westward to central Texas, eastern Oklahoma, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota and eastern North Dakota. As of 2023, we have records from all three physiographic regions, but relatively few from the Coastal Plain.
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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