Moths of North Carolina
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29 NC Records

Chalcoela iphitalis (Walker, 1859) - Sooty-winged Chalcoela Moth

Taxonomy
Superfamily: Pyraloidea Family: CrambidaeSubfamily: GlaphyriinaeTribe: [Glaphyriini]P3 Number: 801069.00 MONA Number: 4895.00
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Beadle and Leckie (2012)Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Munroe (1972)Technical Description, Immature Stages: Rau (1941)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: This is an easily identified species based on the forewing coloration and patterning. The forewing has a light yellowish-brown ground color that is most evident near the wing base, along the costa, and at the apex. Most of the remainder of the wing consists of a dark rust-brown shade that is mostly overlain with a heavy grayish-white dusting. A small whitish arc is present at the apex and the fringe is brown. The hindwing ground color is light gray with a region of heavy grayish-white dusting that matches that on the forewing. A series of eight or nine staggered dark spots are present on the terminal margin.
Forewing Length: 9-11 mm (Powell and Opler, 2009)
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: The larvae are brood parasites of polistine wasps, including at least ten species of Polistes and one species of Mischocyttarus in the U.S. and Central America (Rau, 1941; Nelson, 1968). The larvae feed on developing pupal or pre-pupal wasps before spinning silken cocoons containing layers of air pockets within wasp brood cells (Nacko and Henderson, 2017). The larvae are grub-like, with dull whitish bodies and light amber-colored heads. Webbing is spun over the top of the cell prior to pupation and the silk is sufficiently tough that wasps cannot chew through it. Overwintering occurs inside the abandoned wasp nest. Local populations are usually bivoltine, with an adult emergence in the spring as well as late summer when nests containing wasp brood are present.

Strassman (1981) studied interactions between a paper wasp (Polistes exclamans) and C. iphitalis in Texas. The females laid eggs in wasp nests at night, though they were often seen during the day resting near a nest. When a wasp chemically detected where a female had walked it responded violently by stinging and biting the location where the moth had been. This triggered other wasps to leave the nest and search for the female. If a moth was found it was chewed up immediately. The wasps also defended against C. iphitalis by eviscerating, chewing up, or dropping wasp pupae to the ground that appeared to be infected with moth larvae or other parasitoids. At her site, the pupae overwintered in abandoned wasp nests and emerged as adults in mid-April. Several generations of C. iphitalis were produced each year with new infestations usually reaching a peak in July and August.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Chalcoela iphitalis is a very wide-ranging species that occurs in British Columbia and from Quebec eastward to Nova Scotia. It has been observed in the U.S. over a wide swath from California and the Pacific Northwest eastward to the Atlantic Coast. Specimens have been found in every state in the conterminous U.S. except Georgia, South Carolina, Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota. As of 2023, our site records are all from lower-elevation sites in the Blue Ridge, except for one site in 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)

Click on graph to enlarge
Flight Comments: The adults have been found in every month of the year in different areas of the range, but most fly from April through September. Many populations appear to produce two broods per year, but southern populations may produce even more. One intensely sampled population in the Piedmont of North Carolina appears to be bivoltine.
Habitats and Life History
Habitats: Local populations exploit paper wasp nests and are generally found in urban or rural settings where they nest beneath the eaves of homes, warehouses, barns and other structures.
Larval Host Plants: None. Larvae are parasites of the paper wasp larvae (Beadle & Leckie, 2018). - View
Observation Methods: The adults are attracted to lights and can occasionally be seen resting near wasp nests.
Wikipedia
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status:
Natural Heritage Program Ranks: GNR [S2-S4]
State Protection: Has no legal protection, although permits are required to collect it on state parks and other public lands.
Comments: As of 2023, we have only a few records for this species. It may have been undercollected due to its close association with paper wasps.

 Photo Gallery for Chalcoela iphitalis - Sooty-winged Chalcoela Moth

35 photos are available. Only the most recent 30 are shown.

Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2022-07-17
Guilford Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2022-06-10
Guilford Co.
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Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2021-05-01
Guilford Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2021-04-26
Guilford Co.
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Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2021-04-18
Guilford Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2021-04-18
Guilford Co.
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Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2020-09-06
Guilford Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2020-08-24
Guilford Co.
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Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2020-08-01
Guilford Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2020-07-22
Guilford Co.
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Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2020-07-18
Guilford Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2020-05-24
Guilford Co.
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Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2020-05-13
Guilford Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2020-05-02
Guilford Co.
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Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2020-05-02
Guilford Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2019-08-11
Guilford Co.
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Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2019-07-24
Guilford Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2019-07-24
Guilford Co.
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Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2019-07-15
Guilford Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2019-06-29
Guilford Co.
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Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2019-06-29
Guilford Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2019-06-13
Guilford Co.
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Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2019-06-13
Guilford Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2019-06-13
Guilford Co.
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Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2019-06-03
Guilford Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2019-06-03
Guilford Co.
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Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2019-05-12
Guilford Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2019-05-12
Guilford Co.
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Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2019-05-07
Guilford Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2019-05-07
Guilford Co.
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