Moths of North Carolina
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Raphiptera Members:
81 NC Records

Raphiptera argillaceellus (Packard, 1867) - Diminutive Grass-veneer Moth

Taxonomy
Superfamily: Pyraloidea Family: CrambidaeSubfamily: CrambinaeTribe: CrambiniP3 Number: 800913.00 MONA Number: 5393.00
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Forbes (1923)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: In this species the palps, head, thorax and ground color of the forewings are concolorous and vary from light-brown to mouse gray. The largest mark is a slender white stripe that extends from the wing base to about five-sixths the wing length where it comes to a point. The stripe has a dark tooth-like mark along the dorsal edge about two-thirds from the base, and is followed by a broad whitish to whitish-gray chevron over its apex. A triangular white patch runs from the tip of the chevron to the tip of the wing and is margined with black on both sides. The outer edge of the chevron is bound by a dark outwardly angulate subterminal line. The line extends from the costa obliquely towards the outer margin for about a fourth of its length, then angles back to run roughly parallel to the outer margin to the inner margin. The terminal line is dark brown to blackish and runs from the apex before terminating just before reaching the tornus. Three or four back dashes extend from the line near the center of the wing. The fringe is lead-colored, and the hindwing is brown to brownish-gray with a concolorous fringe. The outer margin of the forewing of this species is falcate near the apex, which results in a sharply pointed tip when the moth is resting - a helpful character for distinguishing it from other striped crambids.
Wingspan: 10-15 mm (Forbes, 1923).
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: The larval life history is undocumented.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Raphiptera argillaceellus is found in eastern North America and throughout portions of southern Canada, including Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. In the U.S., the range extends from Maine and other New England states westward through the Great Lakes region to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Nebraska, and southward from Maine along the Atlantic Seaboard to southern Florida, then westward to Louisiana, Arkansas and central Texas. As of 2023, we have numerous records from the Coastal Plain and eastern Piedmont, with one isolated record from the northern Blue Ridge.
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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