Moths of North Carolina
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16 NC Records

Lomographa semiclarata (Walker, 1866) - Bluish Spring Moth

Lomographa semiclarataLomographa semiclarata
view caption 		Lomographa semiclarataLomographa semiclarata
Taxonomy
Superfamily: Geometroidea Family: GeometridaeSubfamily: EnnominaeTribe: BaptiniP3 Number: 91a1146 MONA Number: 6666.00
Comments: One of four species in this genus that occur in North America north of Mexico (Pohl et al., 2016). Three have been recorded in North Carolina.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984); Beadle and Leckie (2012)Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Forbes (1948)Technical Description, Immature Stages: Wagner et al. (2001)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: A moderately small Geometrid with glistening white on its hindwings and portions of its forewings. Although it lacks any actual blue coloration, the sooty brown shading on the upperside of the forewings apparently gives this species a bluish appearance when flying. When active, the wings are held upright in a closed, butterfly-like fashion. Sexes are similar.
Wingspan: 22 mm (Forbes, 1948)
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: Wagner et al. (2001) describe the larvae as sea-green to emerald green, with a distinctive mid-dorsal row of yellow spots that are sometimes edged with red (see that reference for an illustration and more detailed description).
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos, especially where associated with known host plants.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Most of our records come from the Mountains, but there are -- surprisingly -- several from the eastern 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)

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