Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984); Beadle and Leckie (2012) | Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLD | Technical Description, Adults: Forbes (1948); Ferguson (1969, 1985) | Technical Description, Immature Stages: Forbes (1948); Ferguson (1985); Wagner et al. (2001) | |
Adult Markings: A medium-sized, dark green Emerald; no reddish-brown spring form is known. The abdomen has a series of white spots surrounded by red, similar to N. lixaria and bistriaria. Rubrifrontaria lacks the red terminal line found in those species and has a pinkish to white fringe that is only weakly checkered, if at all. |
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Forewing Length: 12-13.5 mm, males; 12-14 mm, females (Ferguson, 1985) |
Adult Structural Features: The fore-tibiae are solid reddish, without the white transverse band found in N. lixaria and bistriaria. Male and female genitalia are distinctive (see Ferguson, 1985, for details and illustrations). |
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens. |
Immatures and Development: Larvae are coarsely pilose and possess prominent wing-like, dorso-lateral projections similar to several other members of this genus. Wagner (2005) recommends that larvae be reared to adulthood in order to identify them to species. |
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable only through rearing to adulthood. |