Moths of North Carolina

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Pygarctia abdominalis Grote, 1871 - Yellow-edged Pygarctia

Taxonomy

Superfamily:
Noctuoidea

Family:
Erebidae

Subfamily:
Arctiinae

Tribe:
Arctiini

P3 Number:
930430

MONA Number:
8255.00

Other Common Name:
Yellow-edged Tussock Moth

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 Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLD

Technical 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) Click on graph to enlarge
Flight Comments: Schweitzer et al. (2011) state that there are probably two broods over most of the range of this species. Our data indicate that adults are present throughout most of the growing season, possibly with three distinct flights.

Habitats and Life History

Habitats: All of our records come from Longleaf Pine sandhills habitats, some very xeric.

Larval Host Plants: Larvae are probably stenophagous, feeding solely on members of the Euphorbiaceae (Schweitzer et al., 2011). American Ipecac (Euphorbia ipecacuanhae), other spurges (Euphorbia spp.), and Spurge-nettle (Cnidoscolus stimulosus) are all possible hosts in its sandhill habitats. - View

Observation Methods: Appears to come at least moderately well to blacklights, with up to eight being collected in a single trap; also observed at building lights. None of our records come from bait.

Wikipedia

See also Habitat Account for General Fire-maintained Sandhills

Status in North Carolina

Natural Heritage Program Status: SR

Natural Heritage Program Ranks: G3 S2S3

State Protection: Listed as Significantly Rare by the Natural Heritage Program. That designation, however, does not confer any legal protection, although permits are required to collect it on state parks and other public lands.

Comments: Strongly associated with Longleaf Pine sandhills, a habitat that has undergone severe reduction over the past two hundred years. Populations in the New Jersey Pine Barrens appear to have been extirpated, possibly due to the effects of fire-suppression (Schweitzer et al., 2011). Without periodic fire, the low-growing forbs that they feed on can be easily swamped by taller vegetation or thick deposits of pine thatch. With increasing fragmentation of their habitats, making movement between habitat units increasingly difficult, the remnant small, isolated populations are highly vulnerable to irrevocable loss.

Photo Gallery for Pygarctia abdominalis - Yellow-edged Pygarctia

Photos: 24

	Recorded by: Jeff Niznik, David George, Larry Chen, Sarah Toner, Joye Zhou on 2025-06-20 Richmond Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Allison Garton on 2025-05-24 Moore Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Allison Garton on 2025-05-24 Moore Co. Comment:		Recorded by: David George, Jeff Niznik, Jim Petranka, Becky Elkin on 2025-05-24 Richmond Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: David George, Jeff Niznik, Jim Petranka, Becky Elkin on 2025-05-24 Richmond Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka, David George, Jeff Niznik on 2025-05-24 Richmond Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: David George, Jeff Niznik on 2025-05-24 Richmond Co. Comment:		Recorded by: David George, Jeff Niznik on 2025-05-24 Richmond Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2025-05-23 Richmond Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2025-05-23 Richmond Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Bo Sullivan on 2023-06-13 Scotland Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka, Bo Sullivan, and Steve Hall on 2022-07-25 Scotland Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka, Bo Sullivan, and Steve Hall on 2022-07-24 Moore Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Bo Sullivan on 2021-08-09 Moore Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Bo Sullivan on 2021-08-09 Moore Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Bo Sullivan on 2021-08-09 Scotland Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka, Bo Sullivan and Steve Hall on 2021-06-08 Moore Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka, Bo Sullivan and Steve Hall on 2021-06-08 Moore Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka, Bo Sullivan and Steve Hall on 2021-06-08 Scotland Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka, Bo Sullivan and Steve Hall on 2021-06-08 Scotland Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: M. Prinz on 2018-06-08 Moore Co. Comment:		Recorded by: M. Prinz on 2018-06-08 Moore Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: NEW on 2012-05-15 Moore Co. Comment:		Recorded by: SPH on 2009-06-24 Richmond Co. Comment: Male; wingspan = 3.2 cm; forewing length = 1.4 cm