Moths of North Carolina
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93 NC Records

Dasychira basiflava (Packard, 1864) - Yellow-based Tussock Moth

Taxonomy
Superfamily: Noctuoidea Family: ErebidaeSubfamily: LymantriinaeTribe: OrgyiiniP3 Number: 930148.00 MONA Number: 8296.00
Comments: One of 16 species in this genus that occur in North America, 10 of which have been recorded in North Carolina.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984); Beadle and Leckie (2012)Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Forbes (1948); Ferguson (1978)Technical Description, Immature Stages: Both Forbes (1948) and Ferguson (1978) provide keys to the larvae.                                                                                  
Adult Markings: Males are mottled. The median area is whitish towards the costa and over the cell but becomes a darker gray-green towards the inner margin; the basal and outer thirds of the wing are a mixture of yellowish, brown, gray-green, fuscous and white, usually with a yellow-brown (luteous) patch near the base in the fold (Forbes, 1948). The lines are fine and black; the postmedian can be somewhat dentate but is generally not sinuous -- concave towards the costa but irregular below the tooth at M3 towards the inner magin (Forbes, 1948). This species is very similar in pattern to D. meridionalis, which used to be considered a southern subspecies of basiflava. Compared to meridionalis (particularly D. meridionalis memorata), basiflava is larger and with less contrast between the median area and the basal and subterminal areas; it also has a more undulate postmedian (Ferguson, 1978). Barred forms appear to be absent in meridionalis but occur in basiflava, particularly the females (Ferguson, 1978).
Adult Structural Features: Dasychira species have two dorsal tufts on their abdomens, whereas Orgyia have just one. Adults lack mouthparts. D. basiflava cannot be distinguished genitalically in either sex from meridionalis, but slight differences separate basiflava, vagans, and dorsipennata (Ferguson, 1978).
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: Larvae of this species have a pair of dark hair pencils at the posterior end but only a short dorsal tuft on A8 rather than a long hair pencil. Larvae of vagans are similar in this regard but are generally lighter: in basiflava, the dorsal tufts are nearly black and the tufts along the sides are gray or brown; in vagans, the dorsal, brush-like tufts on segments are light brown or gray and the tufts along the sides of the body are pure white. Larvae of meridionalis are also similar in terms of their posterior hair pencils but have black club-shaped plumose hairs along the sides of the body arising from tubercles located both above and below the spiracles whereas basivlava has lateral black hairs originating only from below the spiracles (see Ferguson, 1978, for details).
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos, especially where associated with known host plants.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Ferguson (1978) thought the dividing line between northern basiflava and southern meridionalis was located somewhere in the middle of North Carolina, giving the range of meridionalis memorata from Southern Pines, NC to northern Florida. Our records seem to agree, indicating that meridionalis occurs primarily in the southern half of the Coastal Plain in North Carolina, including the Fall-line Sandhills, and that basiflava occurs north of the Pamlico Sound in the Coastal Plain as well as the north-central Piedmont and most of the Mountains. A zone of overlap with meridionalis may occur in the northern portion of the Coastal Plain.
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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