Moths of North Carolina

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View PDF	Geometridae Members:	Mellilla Members:	28 NC Records

Mellilla xanthometata (Walker, 1862) - Orangewing Moth

Taxonomy

Superfamily:
Geometroidea

Family:
Geometridae

Subfamily:
Ennominae

Tribe:
Macariini

P3 Number:
910691.00

MONA Number:
6271.10

Other Common Name:
Orange Wing

Comments: The sole species in this genus, which is found only in eastern North America but marginally east of the Appalachians

Species Status: Formerly treated as two separate species M. xanthometata and M. snoviaria (e.g., see Forbes, 1948) but now considered to represent just a single species with two different seasonal forms (Ferguson, 2008).

Identification

Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984); Beadle and Leckie (2012)

Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLD

Technical Description, Adults: Forbes (1948); Ferguson (2008)

Technical Description, Immature Stages: Wagner et al. (2001); Ferguson (2008)

Adult Markings: A small brown Geometrid with bright orange hindwings. Transverse lines are dark brown but the antemedian and median line may be incomplete or obscure. The postmedian is usually strongly developed and inwardly edged with pale brown or yellow; it often forms the boundary between the lighter median and basal areas and the darker outer third of the forewing. The spring form shows a strong contrast between the basal/medial areas and the postmedial/terminal areas, whereas the summer form is more concolorous reddish-brwon; the summer form also usually has a dark spot in the postmedial area (Ferguson, 2008). Females are larger and paler in both forms, but otherwise similar in pattern. Other small moths with orange hindwings, e.g., Ilexia intractata and Virbia rubicundaria, lack the two-toned postmedian and forewing and do not have males with broadly bipectinate antennae.

Adult Structural Features: Males have broadly bipectinate antennae. Spring form males have much longer hind tibiae than the summer form (Ferguson, 2008).

Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.

Immatures and Development: Larvae are brown or green and marked longitudinally with narrow pale pinstripes; a wider pale subspiracular stripe is also present, as well as pale intersegmental rings (Wagner et al., 2001; Ferguson, 2008).

Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos, especially where associated with known host plants.

Distribution in North Carolina

Distribution: All of our records come from the Piedmont.

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
Flight Comments: Our few records are consistent with the two flight periods that have been noted elsewhere (see Ferguson, 2008), with the first occurring in May and June and the second in July and August. However, the spring form that Ferguson describes appears to occur only in May, with summer form individuals appearing in June.

Habitats and Life History

Habitats: Orange County records come from wooded areas but located either near old homesites or pastures possessing scattered Honey Locusts (S. Hall, pers. obs.). Records from Chatham County come from developed areas where Honey Locust has been planted as an ornamental (P. Backstrom, pers. obs.). Habitats present from other sites where this species has been found in North Carolina are unrecorded but are likely to be similar.

Larval Host Plants: Larvae are apparently monophagous, at least in our area, feeding on Honey Locust (Gleditsia triacanthos) (McDunnough, cited by Ferguson, 2008; Forbes, 1948; Wagner et al., 2001). Florida populations also feed on Water Locust (Gleditsia aquatica) (Ferguson, 2008) but Wagner et al. (2001) reported that it refused to feed on Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia). - View

Observation Methods: Comes to blacklights at least to some degree although not in large numbers in our experience. This species also flies during the day (Covell, 1984; Wagner et al., 2001; but see Ferguson, 2008, who thought it was entirely nocturnal).

Wikipedia

See also Habitat Account for Honey Locust Groves

Status in North Carolina

Natural Heritage Program Status: [W-PK]

Natural Heritage Program Ranks: G5 SNR [S2S3]

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

Comments: Honey Locust is not believed to be native east of the Appalachians (Weakley, 2015) but was introduced to this area after European colonization by farmers who used its seed pods as livestock fodder or its wood for fence posts (it was also used by Native Americans for food or for constructing bows). The status of Honey Locust specialists as native species in our area is thus uncertain. Some of these species have been known from North Carolina for a fairly long time, however. The type locality for Sphingicampa bicolor -- described by Harris in 1841 -- is North Carolina (see Ferguson, 1971), and both Mellilla xanthometata and Spiloloma lunilinea were recorded by Brimley (1938). Other species, including Sphingicampa bisecta and Catocala minuta appear to have been recorded in North Carolina only recently. While all of these species now appear to be established as residents, their conservation status is still problematic, especially since most of their populations are not associated with native habitats. Some of them may actually be increasing in numbers, especially with the planting of Honey Locust in parking lots and other urban locations. While that could be the case for Mellilla, the number of records for this species still appear to be fairly small for a species that was first recorded in our area in the early part of the 20th Century. Its populations are likely to be very sparse and scattered, although spread over a wide geographic area.

Photo Gallery for Mellilla xanthometata - Orangewing Moth

Photos: 16

	Recorded by: Lior S. Carlson, Dean Furbish on 2025-08-12 Alamance Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Lior S. Carlson, Dean Furbish on 2025-08-12 Alamance Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Simpson Eason on 2024-08-19 Durham Co. Comment:		Recorded by: David George, Stephen Dunn, Jeff Niznik, Patrick Coin on 2024-06-22 Chatham Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: David George, Stephen Dunn, Jeff Niznik on 2023-08-18 Caswell Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jeff Niznik on 2023-07-21 Orange Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: John Petranka on 2023-07-04 Orange Co. Comment:		Recorded by: John Petranka, David George on 2023-06-30 Orange Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: David L. Heavner on 2021-04-07 Chatham Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Steve Hall on 2019-06-24 Orange Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Owen McConnell on 2018-06-16 Orange Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Lenny Lampel on 2017-08-17 Mecklenburg Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Darryl Willis on 2017-04-13 Cabarrus Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Paul Scharf on 2015-06-13 Warren Co. Comment: summer form
	Recorded by: Parker Backstrom on 2013-09-01 Chatham Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Paul Scharf on 2011-06-07 Warren Co. Comment: summer form