Moths of North Carolina
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View PDFLasiocampidae Members: Heteropacha Members: 5 NC Records

Heteropacha rileyana Harvey, 1874 - Riley's Lappet Moth

Heteropacha rileyanaHeteropacha rileyanaHeteropacha rileyana
Taxonomy
Superfamily:
Bombycoidea		 Family:
Lasiocampidae		Subfamily:
Lasiocampinae		Tribe:
Gastropachini		P3 Number:
870001		 MONA Number:
7685.00
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984); Beadle and Leckie (2012)Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLD                                                                                 
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: We only have a few records for the species, all from the Piedmont. It could potentially occur wherever the host plant (Honey Locust) is found, which includes most of the Piedmont and the southern part of the Blue Ridge. North Carolina is apparently at the eastern extreme of the range of H. rileyana, with most of the records mapped by Moth Photographers Group (accessed 12/15/24) ranging west from Ohio into the Great Plains states and south to Texas.
County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.
Heteropacha rileyanaAlamance 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: Records from Chatham and Lee are from a hot spot for Gleditsia feeders, with all of the species known to occur in North Carolina found in that area. Gleditsia occurs there both in old pastures and planted in parking lots.
Larval Host Plants: Larvae feed on Honey Locust (Gleditsia triacanthos) (Wagner, 2005). There is also a BugGuide record (George Smiley, 2020) for Water Locust (Gleditsia aquatica) in Texas. - View
Wikipedia
See also Habitat Account for Honey Locust Groves
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status: [W-PK]
Natural Heritage Program Ranks: G4 SNR [S2S3]
State Protection: Has no legal protection, although permits are required to collect it on state parks and other public lands.
Comments:

 Photo Gallery for Heteropacha rileyana - Riley's Lappet Moth

Photos: 5
Heteropacha rileyanaRecorded by: Jeff Niznik, David George on 2025-04-05
Chatham Co.
Comment: 		Heteropacha rileyanaRecorded by: John Petranka on 2023-03-24
Orange Co.
Comment:
Heteropacha rileyanaRecorded by: John Petranka on 2023-03-24
Orange Co.
Comment: 		Heteropacha rileyanaRecorded by: Parker Backstrom on 2013-06-15
Chatham Co.
Comment:
Heteropacha rileyanaRecorded by: Parker Backstrom on 2010-07-15
Lee Co.
Comment: