Moths of North Carolina
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View PDFErebidae Members:
Crambidia Members:
71 NC Records

Crambidia pura Barnes & McDunnough, 1913 - Pure Lichen Moth

Taxonomy
Superfamily: Noctuoidea Family: ErebidaeSubfamily: ArctiinaeTribe: LithosiiniP3 Number: 930226.00 MONA Number: 8052.00
Comments: One of eleven named species in this genus that occur in North America north of Mexico (Lafontaine and Schmidt, 2010, 2015), of which six been recorded in North Carolina (several others are still undescribed)
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984)Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Forbes (1960)Technical Description, Immature Stages: (None)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: Pure white above, including the frons and top of the head, and smaller than the Crambidia casta, with a wingspan less than 30 mm. Covell (1984) states that pura is also pure white below, unlike casta, which has gray on both the undersurface of its wings as well as on its legs and abdomen. However, our Coastal Plain species is both small and grayish beneath (Forbes, 1960, stated that both species were identical in color). Unless information on size is included, it may be difficult to tell pura and casta apart based on photographs alone. Good photographs should, however, be sufficient to distinguish pura from members of the cephalica complex, which have yellow shading on their frons and top of their heads. Specimens provide more reliable means of identification and worn or otherwise difficult-to-identify males can be identified by dissection.
Wingspan: 22-25 mm (Forbes, 1960)
Adult Structural Features: Illustrations of male reproductive structures are given in Forbes (1960)
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable only by close inspection of structural features or by DNA analysis.
Immatures and Development: Descriptions of the larvae are apparently unavailable.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Appears to be restricted to the southern portion 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)

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