Moths of North Carolina
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View PDFGeometridae Members: Lobocleta Members: 177 NC Records

Lobocleta ossularia (Geyer, 1837) - Drab Brown Wave Moth

Lobocleta ossulariaLobocleta ossulariaLobocleta ossularia
Taxonomy
Superfamily:
Geometroidea		 Family:
Geometridae		Subfamily:
Sterrhinae		Tribe:
Sterrhini		P3 Number:
91a0044		 MONA Number:
7094.00
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984); Beadle and Leckie (2012)Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLD                                                                                 
Adult Markings: The front of the head is black and strongly contrasting with the rest of the body (Forbes, 1948). The inter-antennal ridge is heavily powdered with gray and is concolorous with the wings. The ground color of the wings is whitish or cream but they are typically heavily dusted with luteous or fuscous scales. The darker shading may be grouped into irregular lines, which when well separated allows the pale ground color to show. Black discal dots are well-developed and a terminal line of dark dots or bars, sometimes closely adjoining, is usually present.
Wingspan: 12-16 mm (Forbes, 1948)
Adult Structural Features: The antennae of the males are fasciculate (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.
Lobocleta ossulariaAlamance Alexander Alleghany Anson Ashe Avery Beaufort Bertie Bladen Brunswick Buncombe Burke Cabarrus Caldwell Camden Carteret Caswell Catawba Chatham Cherokee Chowan Clay Cleveland Columbus Craven Cumberland Currituck Dare Davidson Davie Duplin Durham Edgecombe Forsyth Franklin Gaston Gates Graham Granville Greene Guilford Halifax Harnett Haywood Henderson Hertford Hoke Hyde Iredell Jackson Johnston Jones Lee Lenoir Lincoln Macon Madison Martin McDowell Mecklenburg Mitchell Montgomery Moore Nash New%20Hanover Northampton Onslow Orange Pamlico Pasquotank Pender Perquimans Person Pitt Polk Randolph Richmond Robeson Rockingham Rowan Rutherford Sampson Scotland Stanly Stokes Surry Swain Transylvania Tyrrell Union Vance Wake Warren Washington Watauga Wayne Wilkes Wilson Yadkin Yancey
Flight Dates:
 High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
 Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
 Piedmont (Pd)
 Coastal Plain (CP)

Click on graph to enlarge 		Image showing flight dates by month for High Mountains greater than 4,000 feet, Low Mountains, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain: adults.
Habitats and Life History
Habitats: Our records come primarily from open habitats in the Coastal Plain, including maritime dunes, Longleaf Pine savannas, flatwoods, and sand ridges. We have a few records from the Piedmont, where old fields and lake shoreline habitats are used. Our few records from the Mountains come from wet meadows and one cedar barrens.
Larval Host Plants: Larvae feed on low forbs, with reported hosts including strawberry (Fragaria), bedstraw (Galium), chickweed (Stellaria), and clover (Trifolium) (Forbes, 1948; Covell, 1984; Heppner, 2007; Robinson et al., 2010). - View
Wikipedia
See also Habitat Account for General Successional Fields and Forblands
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 Lobocleta ossularia - Drab Brown Wave Moth

 73 photos are available. Only the most recent 30 are shown.
Lobocleta ossulariaRecorded by: Dean Furbish, Lior S. Carlson on 2025-06-18
Alamance Co.
Comment: 		Lobocleta ossulariaRecorded by: Mark Basinger on 2025-06-14
Rowan Co.
Comment:
Lobocleta ossulariaRecorded by: Mark Basinger on 2025-06-02
Brunswick Co.
Comment: 		Lobocleta ossulariaRecorded by: David George, Bonnie Eamick on 2025-04-25
Wake Co.
Comment:
Lobocleta ossulariaRecorded by: K. Bischof on 2025-04-19
Chatham Co.
Comment: 		Lobocleta ossulariaRecorded by: Mark Basinger on 2025-04-18
Brunswick Co.
Comment:
Lobocleta ossulariaRecorded by: Dean Furbish and Joy Wiggins on 2024-10-31
Pender Co.
Comment: 		Lobocleta ossulariaRecorded by: Dean Furbish and Joy Wiggins on 2024-10-29
Pender Co.
Comment:
Lobocleta ossulariaRecorded by: Mark Basinger on 2024-10-04
Brunswick Co.
Comment: 		Lobocleta ossulariaRecorded by: Mark Basinger on 2024-07-27
Rowan Co.
Comment:
Lobocleta ossulariaRecorded by: Dean Furbish on 2024-06-07
Wake Co.
Comment: 		Lobocleta ossulariaRecorded by: Dean Furbish on 2024-06-02
Wake Co.
Comment:
Lobocleta ossulariaRecorded by: R. Newman on 2024-05-29
Carteret Co.
Comment: 		Lobocleta ossulariaRecorded by: Mark Basinger on 2024-05-27
Brunswick Co.
Comment:
Lobocleta ossulariaRecorded by: Mark Basinger on 2024-05-25
Brunswick Co.
Comment: 		Lobocleta ossulariaRecorded by: Mark Basinger on 2024-04-21
Brunswick Co.
Comment:
Lobocleta ossulariaRecorded by: Mark Basinger on 2024-04-21
Brunswick Co.
Comment: 		Lobocleta ossulariaRecorded by: David George, Jeff Niznik, Rich Teper on 2024-04-16
New Hanover Co.
Comment:
Lobocleta ossulariaRecorded by: David George, Jeff Niznik, Rich Teper on 2024-04-16
New Hanover Co.
Comment: 		Lobocleta ossulariaRecorded by: R. Newman on 2024-04-10
Carteret Co.
Comment:
Lobocleta ossulariaRecorded by: Dean Furbish on 2024-04-01
Wake Co.
Comment: 		Lobocleta ossulariaRecorded by: Dean Furbish on 2024-03-31
Wake Co.
Comment:
Lobocleta ossulariaRecorded by: R. Newman on 2023-11-17
Carteret Co.
Comment: 		Lobocleta ossulariaRecorded by: Dean Furbish on 2023-10-26
Pender Co.
Comment:
Lobocleta ossulariaRecorded by: Mark Basinger on 2023-10-09
Brunswick Co.
Comment: 		Lobocleta ossulariaRecorded by: Mark Basinger on 2023-10-01
Brunswick Co.
Comment:
Lobocleta ossulariaRecorded by: Mark Basinger on 2023-09-03
Brunswick Co.
Comment: 		Lobocleta ossulariaRecorded by: Travis McLain on 2023-08-02
Cabarrus Co.
Comment:
Lobocleta ossulariaRecorded by: Dean Furbish on 2023-07-25
Wake Co.
Comment: 		Lobocleta ossulariaRecorded by: Dean Furbish on 2023-06-06
Wake Co.
Comment: