Moths of North Carolina

Scientific Name:	Common Name:		Family (Alpha):

View PDF	Pyralidae Members:	Ephestia Members:	16 NC Records
Ephestia elutella (Hübner, 1796) - Tobacco Moth

No image for this species.

Taxonomy

Superfamily: Pyraloidea

Family: Pyralidae

Subfamily: Phycitinae

Tribe: Phycitini

P3 Number: 80a0182

MONA Number: 6021.00

Identification

Field Guide Descriptions:	Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLD	Technical Description, Adults: Neunzig (1996)
Adult Markings: "I can sometimes tell these, but the small, gray phycitines are best dissected, because there are several species, easily told by genitalia. You certainly also have Ephestia columbiella, another small gray phycitine" (Scholtens, 2017)
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable only by close inspection of structural features or by DNA analysis.

Distribution in North Carolina


Distribution:
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

Habitats and Life History

Habitats:

Larval Host Plants: Larvae are apparently broadly polyphagous, reported on a wide range of crop plants, including onion, cabbage, peppers, soybean, alfalfa, tobacco, rice, potato, and grape; but also on chestnut, walnut, and cherry (Heppner, 2007; Robinson et al., 2010). - View

Wikipedia

Status in North Carolina

Natural Heritage Program Status:

Natural Heritage Program Ranks:

State Protection: Has no legal protection, although permits are required to collect it on state parks and other public lands.

Comments:

Ephestia elutella (Hübner, 1796) - Tobacco Moth