Moths of North Carolina
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Tolype Members:
18 NC Records

Tolype minta Dyar, 1906 - Southern Tolype Moth

Tolype mintaTolype minta
Taxonomy
Superfamily: Bombycoidea Family: LasiocampidaeSubfamily: MacromphaliinaeP3 Number: 870026 MONA Number: 7675.00
Comments: One of eleven species in this genus that occur in North America (Franclemont, 1973), four of which have been recorded in North Carolina.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984)Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Franclemont (1973)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: Tolype minta is a moderately small, predominantly white Lasiocampid. The head, sides of the thorax, and the abdomen are usually all white, with a dark patch of metallic scales in the dorsal area of the thorax and with gray shading at the tip of the abdomen in some individuals. The ground color of the wings is also white, with a contrasting band of gray in the subterminal area; the antemedian and postmedian lines are also light gray with a white filling (Franclemont, 1973). The hindwings are a pure white with a suffusion of gray near the inner margin. Tolype notialis is similar in size and pattern and has a white head and sides of the thorax but is otherwise a darker gray in all of the areas where minta is white. Another similar Lasiocampid is Artace cribraria, which is usually whiter than T. minta, lacks the gray band in the subterminal area, and possesses dotted lines rather than the more continuous gray lines found in minta.
Adult Structural Features: The male genitalia are similar but recognizably distinct from those of notialis and laricis, with longer socii and their basal plates less extended (see Franclemont, 1973, for illustrations).
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: Larvae do not appear to have been found in the wild or reared; we know of know descriptions.
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable only through rearing to adulthood.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Appears to be restricted to the southern half of the Coastal Plain, including the Fall-line Sandhills.
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: Probably bivoltine, flying in May and June and later in October
Habitats and Life History
Habitats: All but one of our records come from shallow depressional wetlands containing populations of Pond Cypress (Taxodium ascendens). These habitats include Cypress Savannas, Carolina Bays, and Non-riverine Swamp Forests. None of our records come from deep riverine swamps where Bald Cypress (T. distichum) is dominant, although we have one record from Lake Waccamaw State Park, where Bald Cypress occurs.
Larval Host Plants: Larvae have apparently not been recorded in the wild, but the association with Pond Cypress appears to be fairly strong. Other members of this genus, including T. notialis and laricis, feed primarily on conifers. - View
Observation Methods: Comes well to blacklights. Adults do not feed, so do not come to bait or visit flowers.
Wikipedia
See also Habitat Account for Cypress Swamps and Savannas
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status: SR
Natural Heritage Program Ranks: G4 S2S3
State Protection: Has no legal protection, although permits are required to collect it on state parks and other public lands.
Comments: This species appears to be a narrow habitat specialist and has a restricted distribution in North Carolina. The distribution of Carolina bays and other shallow depressional wetlands has been greatly reduced due to conversion to agriculture and silviculture, with the few remaining good examples now found mainly on public lands that are managed as natural areas. Cypress Savannas, in particular, need to be maintained by frequent burning. Although the impacts of burning to Tolype minta, if it is, in fact, feeding on Pond Cypress, are unknown, we recommend that the usual prescriptions be followed for the protection of insect populations: don't burn all of a habitat type in any one burn and allow enough time between burns to permit recolonization of recently burned areas to occur.

 Photo Gallery for Tolype minta - Southern Tolype Moth

Photos: 2

Recorded by: Ed Corey on 2015-10-13
Bladen Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: SPH & DFS on 1991-10-09
Brunswick Co.
Comment: