Moths of North Carolina
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View PDFErebidae Members: Zale Members: 120 NC Records

Zale declarans (Walker, [1858]) - Dixie Zale

Zale declaransZale declarans
view caption 		Zale declaransZale declarans
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Taxonomy
Superfamily:
Noctuoidea		 Family:
Erebidae		Subfamily:
Erebinae		Tribe:
Ophiusini		P3 Number:
931025		 MONA Number:
8691.00
Comments: One of 39 species in this genus that occur north of Mexico, 23 of which have been recorded in North Carolina
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Adults are illustrated in Kimball (1965) and Wagner et al. (2011) but neither give a detailed description of the adult characteristicsTechnical Description, Immature Stages: Wagner (2005); Wagner et al. (2011)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: A brown to umber Zale, either fairly uniformly colored across the wings or with a contrastingly grayish sub-terminal area. Somewhat similar to Z. unilineata in coloration and in possessing a narrow, constrastingly pale line formed by the postmedian and subterminal; differs from unilineata in possessing a predominately pale postmedian line on the hindwing rather than the contrastingly dark line present in unilineata. It also differs strongly in habitat, with the Black Locusts that unilineata feeds upon generally not present (if present at all) in the maritime forests and coastal fringe sandhills used by declarans.
Genitalia and other structural photos
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from photos showing hindwings, abdomen, or other specialized views [e.g., frons, palps, antennae, undersides].
Immatures and Development: Late instar larvae are strongly striped, which, along with their feeding on live oaks, makes them fairly distinctive (see Wagner et al., 2011, for more details).
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos, especially where associated with known host plants.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Restricted to the outer coast, found mostly on barrier islands but also on the mainland at Carolina Beach State Park and at Camp Lejeune (both within just a couple of miles inland from the coast)
County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.
Zale declaransAlamance 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 Hanover 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)

Click on graph to enlarge 		Image showing flight dates by month for High Mountains greater than 4,000 feet, Low Mountains, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain: adults.