Moths of North Carolina
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View PDFGeometridae Members: 141 NC Records

Nemoria saturiba Ferguson, 1969 - Braided Emerald

Taxonomy
Superfamily: Geometroidea Family: GeometridaeSubfamily: GeometrinaeTribe: NemoriiniP3 Number: 910614.00 MONA Number: 7034.00
Comments: One of 35 species in this genus that occur in North America (Ferguson, 1985), nine of which have been recorded in North Carolina. Ferguson (1969) included saturiba within the Lixaria Species Group (Group V), which comprises only lixaria and saturiba.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONATechnical Description, Adults: Ferguson (1969); Ferguson (1985)Technical Description, Immature Stages: Ferguson (1985); Wagner et al. (2001)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: A medium-sized Emerald, with dark to medium green ground color, wavy to fairly straight lines, and white fringes that are strongly checkered with red. The overall size and pattern are very similar to the closely related N. lixaria but saturiba is easily distinguished by its possession of strong purplish-brown (sometimes red) blotches on the abdomen in place of the white spots found in the other species (small white spots may occur in the center of the blotches in some individuals.
Forewing Length: 10-12 mm, males; 13-14 mm, females (Ferguson, 1985)
Adult Structural Features: The fore-tibieae are marked with solid red and lack the white cross-line found in lixaria and bistriaria (Ferguson, 1985). Genitalia of both the males and females have diagnostic features (described and illustred by Ferguson, 1985). The uncus of the male is spatulate but lacks the scoop-shape present in lixaria; the valves also have a long, scerlotized costal portion and a membranous lower portion that are also distinctive. Females possess a very large, somewhat bilobed, sclerite located on the ventral side of segment 7.
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from photos showing hindwings, abdomen, or other specialized views [e.g., frons, palps, antennae, undersides].
Immatures and Development: Larvae are distinctively yellow-green on segments A1, A3, and A5 and red-brown on the remaining segments (Wagner et al., 2001). The integument is smooth rather than pilose, as typical of other Nemoria and the dorsolateral processes are shorter and more obtuse than in other species (Ferguson, 1985; Wagner et al., 2001)
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos, especially where associated with known host plants.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Apart from the specimen recorded at Tryon at the edge of the Blue Ridge, our records come from the eastern Piedmont and Coastal Plain.
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: In the Coastal Plain, adults fly nearly continuously during the growing season, although with possibly three peaks in activity. Records from the Piedmont also extend over most of the growing season but show evidence of three or four discrete flights.
Habitats and Life History
Habitats: A variety of forested or woodland habitats are used by this species, ranging from Maritime and Coastal Fringe Evergreen Forests in the tidewater area; riverine and non-riverine swamp forests; lake shorelines; dry-to-xeric sandhills; and mesic hardwood slopes. Sweetgum can be found in most of these habitats, although it is scarce to absent in the most xeric habitats. It also widespread over more of the state than is occupied by saturiba, making any strong correlation between the two species difficult to discern. Oaks and Red Maples -- both used by Nemoria lixaria -- seem equally likely to be used as host plants, although no rearing studies appear to have been conducted to determine how well captive larvae feed upon those species.
Larval Host Plants: Larvae have apparently not been observed in the wild. Larvae reared by Ferguson (1969) fed on Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua).
Observation Methods: Adults come well to blacklights, but we have no records from bait or from flowers.
Wikipedia
See also Habitat Account for Sweetgum Groves and Forests
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status:
Natural Heritage Program Ranks: G4 [S4]
State Protection: Has no legal protection, although permits are required to collect it on state parks and other public lands.
Comments: Although the host plants used by this species still need to be determined in the wild, saturiba uses a wide variety of habitats, some of them still widespread, and has a large enough range in the eastern portion of the state to seem fairly secure in North Carolina.

 Photo Gallery for Nemoria saturiba - Braided Emerald

Photos: 25

Recorded by: Michael P. Morales on 2022-02-24
Cumberland Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: David George, L. M. Carlson on 2021-08-27
Orange Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: S. McMurray on 2021-04-10
Chatham Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Dean Furbish on 2021-04-08
Wake Co.
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Recorded by: Jennifer Smith on 2021-04-01
Cumberland Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Jennifer Smith on 2021-04-01
Cumberland Co.
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Recorded by: David L. Heavner on 2021-03-10
Chatham Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Steve Taylor on 2020-09-08
Beaufort Co.
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Recorded by: Erich Hofmann on 2020-07-12
Craven Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Amanda Auxier on 2018-02-22
Pender Co.
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Recorded by: Stephen Hall on 2016-08-07
Orange Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: B. Bockhahn, P. Scharf, S. Hall on 2015-07-22
Stanly Co.
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Recorded by: Paul Scharf on 2015-06-14
Warren Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Paul Scharf on 2015-04-11
Warren Co.
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Recorded by: T. DeSantis on 2015-04-05
Durham Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: J.B. Sullivan on 2013-06-08
Mecklenburg Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: K. Scheip and workshop on 2013-05-09
Wake Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Darryl Willis on 2012-10-15
Cabarrus Co.
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Recorded by: T. DeSantis on 2012-03-22
Camden Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Paul Scharf on 2012-03-14
Warren Co.
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Recorded by: Paul Scharf on 2011-04-07
Warren Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: jane wyche on 2011-04-06
Gates Co.
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Recorded by: ASH on 2007-03-17
Moore Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Paul Hart on 2007-03-08
Harnett Co.
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Recorded by: B. Anderson on 2005-04-29
Wake Co.
Comment: