Moths of North Carolina
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View PDFCrambidae Members: Uresiphita Members: 98 NC Records

Uresiphita reversalis (Guenée, 1854) - Genista Broom Moth

Uresiphita reversalisUresiphita reversalisUresiphita reversalisUresiphita reversalis
Taxonomy
Superfamily:
Pyraloidea		 Family:
Crambidae		Subfamily:
Pyraustinae		Tribe:
Pyraustini		P3 Number:
80a0759		 MONA Number:
4992.00		 Other Common Name:
Sophora Worm
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Munroe (1976)Technical Description, Immature Stages: Alleyson (1981)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: In this species, the head, thorax and ground of the forewing are concolorous and vary from tannish-brown to dark reddish-brown. The antemedial line, postmedial line, orbicular and reniform spots are dark brown to reddish-brown and sometimes obscure on dark individuals. The postmedial line is bowed outward on the costal half of the wing and usually broken into a series of dots. The hindwing is yellow except for a zone of fuscous scales at the apex. The abdomen is also yellow and contrasts sharply with the brownish thorax and head.

This species resembles Oenobotys vinotinctalis, but the latter has a prominent dark-brown spot on each foreleg and a brownish abdomen and hindwing. It also resembles Herpetogramma phaeopteralis that is similar to O. vinotinctalis, but lacks the prominent spot on the forelegs.
Wingspan: 30 mm (Forbes, 1923).
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: Bernays and Montllor (1989) conducted a detailed life history study in California around San Francisco where the larvae fed on French Broom (Genista monspessulana) and there were 4-5 generations per year. The females lay masses of 23-70 eggs on the undersides of leaves that are just below the tips of branches. The hatchlings produced copious amounts of silk and bound together individual leaves that had been fed upon and were shriveling and curling. These served as a communal shelter that commonly held 15-20 larvae, with feeding occurring outside of the shelters.

The second instar larvae dispersed into smaller groups and bound together several leaves to make shelters. By the third instar the shelters were abandoned and the larvae fed thereafter in smaller groups inside a very loose web of silk threads across branchlets. After exploiting most of the local food resources, the larvae moved to nearby branches and spun new webbing. The larvae typically feed in the open during the day, and contain alkaloids from lupines and other host plants that are toxic or distasteful to birds and mammals. The bright coloration of the older instars appears to serve as aposematic (warning) coloration to certain predators. Nonetheless, spiders, hemipterans and vespid wasps all fed on the larvae. Ants strongly avoided the larvae and wasps found them to be less palatable relative to other caterpillars that were used in choice experiments.

The late-instar larvae are 25-30 mm long and vary from yellowish to orangish-green. They have prominent pinacula that are convex, large and black (Allyson, 1981), and that are bordered on each side with smaller white spots. The head capsule is black and the prothoracic shield has black pigmentation around the setae. The setae are well-developed, with many being longer than the width of the body.
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos, especially where associated with known host plants.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Uresiphita reversalis is widely distributed across much of the U.S.; it also occurs in Ontario and Mexico. In the U.S., it has been observed in every state in the conterminous U.S. except Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska. This species occurs statewide in North Carolina wherever the host plants are present locally.
County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.
Uresiphita reversalisAlamance 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.