Moths of North Carolina
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Microcrambus Members:
51 NC Records

Microcrambus minor (Forbes, 1920) - No Common Name

Taxonomy
Superfamily: Pyraloidea Family: CrambidaeSubfamily: CrambinaeTribe: CrambiniP3 Number: 800877.00 MONA Number: 5422.00
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Forbes (1920)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: The following description is based in part by the descriptions by Forbes (1920) and Klots (1968). The palps are whitish above, while the head and thorax are whitish and dusted with dull brown scales. The ground color of the forewing is whitish, and shaded or dusted with dull-brown to blackish scales. The most conspicuous marks are two blackish, diffuse, and often crescent-shaped patches along the inner margin that curve obliquely outward and terminate before reaching the center of the wing. The first is at around one-fourth the distance from the wing base and the second at one-half. The latter is larger and often produces a horseshoe-shaped pattern when an individual is resting with the wings closed. The costa has two short, outwardly oblique dark bars at two-thirds and three-fourths the wing length that cut through the otherwise whitish costa. Both the median and subterminal lines are obscure. The latter is double-lined with a whitish center, but almost always appears as a single, diffuse, dark line because of the filling of the central white region with dark scales (compare with M. elegans). The apical area beyond the subterminal line has a diffuse dark patch and the terminal line is represented as a line of seven black dots. The fringe is dull brown or browning-gray, while the hindwing is light grayish-brown to pale-brown with a whitish fringe.

Microcrambus elegans is often confused with M. minor and is best distinguished by having a costa that is white beyond the subterminal line, along a well-defined subterminal line that is bordered with an adjoining white line. In M. minor, the costa has a diffuse, dark-brown, apical patch that extends across the subterminal line, and a subterminal line that is diffuse and rather obscure.
Microcrambus kimballi also closely resembles M. minor and is best distinguished by the wavy or scalloped subterminal line versus the diffuse and poorly develop line on M. minor.
Wingspan: 10-13 mm (Forbes, 1920; Klots, 1968).
Adult Structural Features: Klots (1968) has descriptions and illustrations of the male genitalia.
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: Microcrambus minor is found in the eastern U.S. and adjoining areas of Canada. In the U.S., the range extends from Maine southward to southern Florida, and westward to eastern Texas and eastern Oklahoma, then northward to Minnesota and northeastern Nebraska. It occurs in adjoining areas of Canada in Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec. This species occurs statewide in North Carolina.
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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