Moths of North Carolina

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View PDF	Geometridae Members:	Iridopsis Members:	424 NC Records

Iridopsis larvaria (Guenée, [1858]) - Bent-line Gray

Taxonomy

Superfamily:
Geometroidea

Family:
Geometridae

Subfamily:
Ennominae

Tribe:
Boarmiini

P3 Number:
91a0989

MONA Number:
6588.00

Other Common Name:
Bent-lined Gray

Comments: One of 20 species in this genus that occur in North America north of Mexico, seven of which have been recorded in North Carolina. In Rindge's 1966 revision of this group, 18 were placed in Anacamptodes, which he recognized as possibly representing the same genus as Iridopsis, and two in Iridopsis itself.

Identification

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

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

Adult Markings: A medium sized member of this genus, with a pale grayish ground color, lightly shaded with tan or orange brown before the antemeidan and following the postmedian, but not with the darker reddish brown found in other members of this genus. The postmedian is also more even than in the other species, with stronger bulges at M2 and C2 but smoother in between.

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

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: Virtually all of our records come from forests.

Larval Host Plants: Larvae are highly polyphagous, feeding on wide variety of woody and herbaceous plants. Wagner et al. (2001) specifically list alder (Alnus), birch (Betula), Sweet-fern (Comptonia peregrina), hawthorn (Crataegus), apple (Malus), poplar (Populus), cherry (Prunus), currant (Ribes), willow (Salix), elderberry (Sambucus), Senna, goldenrod (Solidago), mountain-ash (Sorbus), dogwood (Swida), and Viburnum. We do not have any feeding records in North Carolina. - View

Wikipedia

See also Habitat Account for General Hardwood Forests

Status in North Carolina

Natural Heritage Program Status:

Natural Heritage Program Ranks: G5 SNR [S4S5]

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

Comments:

Photo Gallery for Iridopsis larvaria - Bent-line Gray

162 photos are available. Only the most recent 30 are shown.

	Recorded by: Jim Petranka, Becky Elkin, Marilyn Westphal, Nora Murdock on 2025-08-25 Henderson Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka, Marilyn Westphal and Becky Elkin. on 2025-08-17 Henderson Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: David George, Kevin Bischof, Rich Teper, Patrick Coin on 2025-08-16 Transylvania Co. Comment:		Recorded by: David George, Kevin Bischof, Rich Teper, Patrick Coin on 2025-08-15 Transylvania Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2025-08-12 Ashe Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2025-08-10 Ashe Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2025-07-29 Madison Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2025-07-26 Madison Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka, Mark Basinger and Becky Elkin on 2025-06-25 Mitchell Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Ken Kneidel on 2025-06-16 Mecklenburg Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2025-06-14 Rowan Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2025-05-06 Madison Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2025-05-01 Madison Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Emily Stanley on 2025-04-29 Buncombe Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2025-04-23 Madison Co. Comment:		Recorded by: David George, Jeff Niznik on 2025-04-05 Chatham Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: David George, Jeff Niznik on 2025-04-05 Chatham Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2024-09-02 Madison Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2024-08-26 Madison Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Owen McConnell on 2024-08-10 Graham Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Mark Basinger on 2024-08-07 Mitchell Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Mark Basinger on 2024-08-06 Mitchell Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: David George, Jeff Niznik on 2024-08-06 Transylvania Co. Comment:		Recorded by: David George, Jeff Niznik on 2024-08-06 Transylvania Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: David George, Jeff Niznik on 2024-08-06 Transylvania Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2024-08-05 Mitchell Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: David George, Jeff Niznik on 2024-08-05 Transylvania Co. Comment:		Recorded by: David George, Jeff Niznik on 2024-08-05 Transylvania Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2024-08-04 Mitchell Co. Comment:		Recorded by: David George, Jeff Niznik, Stephen Dunn on 2024-08-02 Chatham Co. Comment: