Moths of North Carolina
Scientific Name:
Common Name:
 Family (Alpha):
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Idaea Members:
101 NC Records

Idaea obfusaria (Walker, 1861) - Rippled Wave Moth

Taxonomy
Superfamily: Geometroidea Family: GeometridaeSubfamily: SterrhinaeTribe: SterrhiniP3 Number: 910532.00 MONA Number: 7123.00
Comments: One of thirty species in this genus that occur in North America north of Mexico (Pohl et al., 2016). Thirteen have been recorded in North Carolina.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984)Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLD                                                                                 
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: Our records come from both open, herb-dominated habitats, including savannas, flatwoods, sandridges, and bogs, and hardwood forests, including bottomlands, swamp forests, and dry ridges.
Larval Host Plants: Polyphagous, feeding on dead and live plant tissues of many trees, shrubs, and forbs (Wagner et al., 2001) - View
Wikipedia
See also Habitat Account for General Forests and Fields
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status:
Natural Heritage Program Ranks: G4G5 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 Idaea obfusaria - Rippled Wave Moth

Photos: 24

Recorded by: David George, Stephen Dunn, Jeff Niznik on 2023-07-31
Swain Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: David George, Stephen Dunn, Jeff Niznik, Rich Teper, Becky Watkins on 2023-07-30
Swain Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: David George, Jeff Niznik on 2023-07-19
Durham Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: John Petranka on 2023-07-10
Person Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Stephen Hall on 2023-06-18
Orange Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Stephen Hall on 2023-06-18
Orange Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2022-07-03
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: David George, L. M. Carlson on 2022-06-21
Caswell Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Darryl Willis on 2022-06-12
Cabarrus Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Julie Tuttle on 2021-07-11
Chatham Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2021-07-11
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Richard Teper on 2021-07-04
Orange Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2021-07-02
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Stephen Dunn on 2020-07-10
Orange Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2020-07-07
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Mark Shields on 2020-06-18
Onslow Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2019-06-29
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Mark Shields on 2019-06-04
Onslow Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2018-07-15
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2018-07-06
Madison Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2018-06-24
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Darryl Willis on 2016-06-16
Cabarrus Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Paul Scharf on 2010-07-01
Warren Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: M.J. Westfall Jr. on 1942-07-13
Transylvania Co.
Comment: This specimen was originally determined by W.T. Forbes as Scopula quadrilinearia and listed for North Carolina under that name by Wray (1967); no other record appears to exist for that species in North Carolina and this specimen -- a female -- has only one pair of spurs on the hind tibiae and has two accessory cells on the forewing, both of which characters disqualify it as a Scopula.