Moths of North Carolina
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View PDFErebidae Members:
Pygarctia Members:
37 NC Records

Pygarctia abdominalis Grote, 1871 - Yellow-edged Pygarctia Moth

Taxonomy
Superfamily: Noctuoidea Family: ErebidaeSubfamily: ArctiinaeTribe: ArctiiniP3 Number: 930430.00 MONA Number: 8255.00
Comments: One of nine members of this genus that occur in North America (Lafontaine and Schmidt, 2010), and the only one that has been recorded in North Carolina
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984)Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Forbes (1960); Schweitzer et al. (2011)Technical Description, Immature Stages: Illustrated in Schweitzer et al. (2011) but detailed descriptions of the larvae appear to be lacking                                                                                 
Adult Markings: Coloration is similar to both Euchaetes egle and Pagara simplex, with wings predominantly gray and abdomen yellow or orange with a mid-dorsal row of black dots. However, both the costa and inner margin of the forewing is lined with yellow in P. abdominalis, unlike the other two whose wings are solidly gray. A good quality photograph showing the forewings should be sufficient to identify this species.
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: From a photograph included in Schweitzer et al. (2011), larvae appear to be densely covered with long, soft, grayish-brown hair.
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos, especially where associated with known host plants.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Restricted to 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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