Moths of North Carolina
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61 NC Records

Cutina arcuata Pogue & Ferguson, 1998 - Arcuate Cutina

Taxonomy
Superfamily: Noctuoidea Family: ErebidaeSubfamily: ErebinaeTribe: PoaphiliniP3 Number: 930966.00 MONA Number: 8729.20
Comments: One of four species in this genus that occur in North America north of Mexico (Lafontaine and Schmidt, 2010). All are restricted to the southeastern United States and have been recorded in North Carolina (Pogue and Ferguson, 1998).
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Pogue and Ferguson (1998)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: A medium-small, mottled brown, black and white Erebid. The ground color of the forewing is brown but heavily marked with black streaks or bands in the antemedian, median, and subterminal spaces. The basal, antemedian, and postmedian lines are also black and edged with white; the subterminal line is largely white. Neither the orbicular or reniform spots are present. Hindwings are light brown. This species is darker brown and much more strongly mottled than the other species of Cutina.
Forewing Length: 9.4-10.6 mm, males; 9.6-10.6 mm, females (Pogue and Ferguson, 1998)
Adult Structural Features: The outer margin of the forewing is angulate, as in other members of this genus. The reproductive structures of both sexes are distinctive and are described and illustrated by Pogue and Ferguson (1998). The uncus is narrow and of equal width over its length, distinguishing this species from albopunctella. Differences in the valves and their processes serve to separate distincta from arcuata and aluticolor. In females, the lobes of the eighth sternite and sclerotization of the sinus vaginalis can be used for identification (Pogue and Ferguson, 1998).
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: Larvae are green with pale stripes, helping them blend in with the foliage on which they feed. Prolegs on A4 are rudimentary and there is a slight hump on the dorsum of A8. See Wagner et al., 2011 for description and an illustration. Larvae of the four species of Cutina are very similar to one another and should be reared to maturity in order to accurately identify the species (Wagner et al., 2011). In one such rearing attempt by George Smiley (BugGuide, 2014), pupation was found to take place in a shelter the larva created by sewing leaves together. Pupating above ground is most likely an adaptation to living in swamps.
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable only through rearing to adulthood.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Probably occurs throughout the range of Taxodium in North Carolina, including the Outer Coastal Plain, Fall-line Sandhills, and a few sites in the eastern Piedmont where cypress swamps occur.
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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