Moths of North Carolina
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5 NC Records

Gondysia telma Sullivan, 2010 - No Common Name

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Taxonomy
Superfamily: Noctuoidea Family: ErebidaeSubfamily: ErebinaeTribe: PoaphiliniP3 Number: 930960 MONA Number: 8726.10
Comments: One of four species in this genus that occur in North America north of Mexico (Lafontaine and Schmidt, 2010), all of which have been recorded in North Carolina
Species Status: Originally described as Neadysgonia telma by Sullivan (2010), the genus of which was later synonymized with Gondysia by Sullivan and Legrain 2011)
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Sullivan (2010)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: A medium-sized, dark brown- and tan-shaded Erebid with a strongly bidentate postmedian line. The ground color of the forewings is a dark, purplish brown. This shade fills the area between the base and antemedian area, and is succeeded by a lighter shade edging the outer side of the antemedian line. Another dark shade fills the inside of the pale postmedian line, which has two strong outward points. The area beyond the postmedian is pale except for a blackish, somewhat bilobed apical dash. Hindwings are brown. Gondysia smithii is essentially identical in color and pattern and can only be identified through dissection or barcoding.
Forewing Length: 19–20 mm (Sullivan, 2010)
Adult Structural Features: Male valves are much narrower and more pointed than those of smithii. The female reproductive structures are also distinct from those of smithii (Sullivan, 2010)
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable only by close inspection of structural features or by DNA analysis.
Immatures and Development: A larva of either G. telma or smithii was reared on Styrax americanus in Texas by George Smiley (BugGuide, 2014); however, the identity of the adult was apparently not confirmed. One larva illustrated on BugGuide is dark, purplish-brown, with a pale tan head and spot of the same color located subdorsally on the first abdominal segment. The second is paler tan, with a slightly darker dorsal band.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: All of our records come from the southern half of 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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Flight Comments: We have records from late spring to late summer, with no strong pattern indicating separate broods
Habitats and Life History
Habitats: "N. telma is most often found in or near swamps with standing water" (Sullivan, 2010).
Larval Host Plants: Larvae have not been observed in North Carolina. However, according to Wagner (pers. comm. to JBS, 2014), larvae of either G. smithii or G. telma have been reared on Styrax. Based on its association with swamp forests, Styrax americanus, which grows primarily in swamp forests, pocosin edges and depression ponds (Weakley, 2015), seems a good possibility as the host plant of telma. - View
Observation Methods: All of our records come from lights; we have no records from bait for any of our species of Gondysia
Wikipedia
See also Habitat Account for Coastal Plain Blackwater Wetlands
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status: W3
Natural Heritage Program Ranks: GNR S2S3
State Protection: Has no legal protection, although permits are required to collect it on state parks and other public lands.
Comments: We have few confirmed records for this species, which appears to be fairly specialized in terms of its habitat. However, if its larval host is, in fact, Styrax americanus, then it could occur widely across the Coastal Plain. More surveys of Styrax-containing wetlands need to be conducted before its conservation status in North Carolina can be determined.