Moths of North Carolina
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View PDFCrambidae Members: Palpita Members: 22 NC Records

Palpita quadristigmalis (Guenée, 1854) - Four-spotted Palpita

Palpita quadristigmalisPalpita quadristigmalisPalpita quadristigmalisPalpita quadristigmalis
Taxonomy
Superfamily:
Pyraloidea		 Family:
Crambidae		Subfamily:
Pyraustinae		Tribe:
Spilomelini		P3 Number:
80a0978		 MONA Number:
5218.00
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLD                                                                                 
Adult Markings: Diaphania costata and Palpita quadristigmalis are two very similar species with semitranslucent, satiny white wings that have a brown to brownish-orange costa. The latter is best distinguished by the presence of four black dots on the forewing, including three along the costa before the middle of the wing, and a fourth at the lower, outer corner of the discal cell near the middle of the wing. Diaphania costata either lacks all of the dots, or has a single obscure dot on the discal cell. Palpita quadristigmalis also has a discal dot on the hindwing that is not present on D. costata.
Forewing Length: 2.6–3.0 cm (Hayden and Buss, 2012).
Adult Structural Features: Hayden and Buss (2013) has descriptions and illustrations of the male and female genitalia, along with comparisons with closely related species.
Genitalia and other structural photos
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: Villegas-Luján et al. (2019) reported that the larvae severely defoliated Japanese Privet hedges in Mexico. The larvae folded leaves on the young, tender growth and fed irregularly on the leaves beneath a scant webbing. Fully-grown larvae were mostly light to dark green with a yellowish brown head and reached a maximum size of 1.9-2.2 cm. The dorsal pinacula of the second thoracic segment were distinctive in being black.
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable only through rearing to adulthood.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Palpita quadristigmalis is a largely tropical and subtropic species that occurs from Central America and the Caribbean southward to central South America. It occurs throughout much of the eastern and southwestern U.S. from Massachusetts southward to southern Florida, and westward across the Gulf States and Texas to Arizona, Colorado, eastern Nebraska, Indiana and Ohio. As of 2023, we have a single record from the southeastern Coastal Plain, with the remainder from the Piedmont and Blue Ridge.
County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.
Palpita quadristigmalisAlamance 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.