Moths of North Carolina
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View PDFErebidae Members: Apantesis Members: 31 NC Records

Apantesis placentia (Smith, 1797) - Placentia Tiger Moth

Apantesis placentiaApantesis placentiaApantesis placentia
Taxonomy
Superfamily:
Noctuoidea		 Family:
Erebidae		Subfamily:
Arctiinae		Tribe:
Arctiini		P3 Number:
930243		 MONA Number:
8191.00		 MONA Synonym:
Grammia placentia
Comments: The genus Apantesis is represented by 43 species in North America, including 13 species in North Carolina.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984)Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Forbes (1960); Schmidt (2009)Technical Description, Immature Stages: Forbes (1960)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: A medium-sized, broad-winged, and boldly marked Tiger Moth that is fairly easily identified based on good quality photographs showing both the fore- and hindwings. Strongly sexually dimorphic. Fore-wings in the females are nearly all black with just a few small white spots; hindwings are crimson with a prominent black medial spot and a thin, usually broken subterminal black band. Fore-wings in the males are similar to those of A. phyllira and A. figurata, lacking vein lines but possessing well developed broad yellow stripes: a longitudinal sub-cubital band (following the terminology of Schmidt, 2009), intersected by a straight medial line and a slightly curved post-medial line and followed by a zig-zag sub-terminal band; broad lines are also present along the costa and inner margins. Males can be distinguished from A. phyllira, which have a similar fore- and hindwing patterns in both sexes, by their medial line intersecting the costa at a right angle and the sub-cubital at an acute angle; in A. phyllira, the medial line is somewhat bent and intersects the costa at an acute angle but is nearly perpendicular to the sub-cubital stripe (Forbes, 1960; Covell, 1984). Schmidt states that the distance between the costal junctions of the medial and post-medial lines is 3-4x the distance between the junctions of these lines with the sub-cubital; in phyllira, the costal distance is only about 2x the sub-cubital distance. Schmidt also notes that the last abdominal segment is entirely dark in A. placentia, but black and pale in A. phyllira.
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from photos showing hindwings, abdomen, or other specialized views [e.g., frons, palps, antennae, undersides].
Immatures and Development: Larvae are black with dark bristles and possess a beaded mid-dorsal stripe, consisting of two dots per segment or single dumbell-shaped dots located near the front of the segments (Forbes, 1960). Apantesis larvae are generally similar to one another, however (Wagner, 2005), and should be reared in order to determine their identity.
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable only through rearing to adulthood.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Forbes (1960) stated that almost all specimens known at that time came from Southern Pines. Our records are certainly consistent with a concentration of occurrences in that area, although we have at least one record from the Outer Coastal Plain and recently one from the eastern edge of the Piedmont was added.
County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.
Apantesis placentiaAlamance 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)

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