Moths of North Carolina

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View PDF	Geometridae Members:	Plagodis Members:	213 NC Records

Plagodis alcoolaria (Guenée, [1858]) - Hollow-spotted Plagodis

Taxonomy

Superfamily:
Geometroidea

Family:
Geometridae

Subfamily:
Ennominae

Tribe:
Anagogini

P3 Number:
91a1190

MONA Number:
6844.00

Other Common Name:
Birch Looper

Identification

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

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

Wingspan: 30-35 mm (Forbes, 1948)

Structural photos

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: Forests and woodlands (Wagner et al., 2001). We have only a few records from the Coastal Plain, all from the Fall-line Sandhills, associated with xerophytic oaks. In the Piedmont, we have records from dry to mesic slopes. Mountain records come from cove forests and riparian forests at low elevations and from high elevation hardwoods and Spruce-Fir forests above 4,000 feet.

Larval Host Plants: Larvae are polyphagous, feeding on many hardwood trees and shrubs. Wagner et al. (2001) specifically list maple (Acer), alder (Alnus), birch (Betula), chestnut (Castanea), poplar (Populus), oak (Quercus), willow (Salix), and basswood (Tilia). - 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 Plagodis alcoolaria - Hollow-spotted Plagodis

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

	Recorded by: David George, David Bradley, Becky Watkins, David Cheng, Michelle Lotker, Tracy Feldman, et al. on 2025-06-28 Durham Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2025-06-27 Rowan Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka, Mark Basinger and Becky Elkin on 2025-05-18 Buncombe Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2025-04-22 Madison Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Emily Stanley on 2025-04-20 Buncombe Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2025-04-20 Madison Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2025-04-19 Madison Co. Comment:		Recorded by: David George, Jeff Niznik on 2025-04-05 Chatham Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Simpson Eason on 2025-04-04 Durham Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2024-08-14 Madison Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: David George, Jeff Niznik on 2024-08-05 Transylvania Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2024-08-04 Madison Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: John Petranka on 2024-07-31 Orange Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2024-07-26 Madison Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: John Petranka on 2024-07-26 Orange Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2024-07-21 Madison Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: David George, Jeff Niznik on 2024-07-08 Chatham Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2024-06-29 Rowan Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka, Mark Basinger and Becky Elkin on 2024-05-16 Buncombe Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka, Mark Basinger and Becky Elkin on 2024-05-16 Buncombe Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jeff Niznik on 2024-05-12 Madison Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2024-05-07 Madison Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Emily Stanley on 2024-04-16 Buncombe Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Avery Young on 2024-04-13 Buncombe Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: David George, Jeff Niznik on 2024-04-01 Chatham Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2023-08-23 Madison Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka, Becky Elkin and Bo Sullivan on 2023-08-08 Wilkes Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Chuck Smith on 2023-08-04 Davidson Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: David George, Stephen Dunn, Jeff Niznik on 2023-07-31 Swain Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Darryl Willis on 2023-07-30 Cabarrus Co. Comment: