Moths of North Carolina

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View PDF	Erebidae Members:	Caenurgia Members:	531 NC Records

Caenurgia chloropha (Hübner, 1818) - Vetch Looper Moth

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Taxonomy

Superfamily:
Noctuoidea

Family:
Erebidae

Subfamily:
Erebinae

Tribe:
Euclidiini

P3 Number:
930938

MONA Number:
8733.00

Identification

Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984)

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

Genitalia and other structural photos

Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.

Distribution in North Carolina

Distribution:

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
Immature Dates: High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft. Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft. Piedmont (Pd) Coastal Plain (CP) Click on graph to enlarge

Habitats and Life History

Habitats: The vast majority of our records come from open, herbaceous habitats. It is particularly common in savannas, flatwoods, sand ridges, and maritime dunes in the Coastal Plain.

Larval Host Plants: Larvae feed on vetches (Vicia spp.) and other legumes (Wagner et al., 2011). In North Carolina a larva was reared on Wire Grass (Aristida stricta ). - View

Wikipedia

See also Habitat Account for General Successional Fields and Forblands

Status in North Carolina

Natural Heritage Program Status:

Natural Heritage Program Ranks: G5 SNR [S5]

State Protection: Has no legal protection, although permits are required to collect it on state parks and other public lands.

Comments:

Photo Gallery for Caenurgia chloropha - Vetch Looper Moth

154 photos are available. Only the most recent 30 are shown.

	Recorded by: Simpson Eason on 2025-10-31 Durham Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka, Becky Elkin, Marilyn Westphal and Nora Murdock on 2025-10-18 Henderson Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2025-10-08 Madison Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2025-10-05 Rowan Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2025-10-02 Richmond Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2025-10-02 Richmond Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Allison Garton on 2025-09-09 Moore Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2025-09-01 Rowan Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka, Mark Basinger and Becky Elkin on 2025-08-30 Richmond Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka, Marilyn Westphal and Becky Elkin. on 2025-08-17 Henderson Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka, Becky Elkin and Marilyn Westphal. on 2025-08-09 Henderson Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Marilyn Westphal on 2025-08-02 Henderson Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: David George, Jeff Niznik, Rob Van Epps, Kevin Metcalf on 2025-07-20 Richmond Co. Comment:		Recorded by: David George on 2025-06-29 Richmond Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka, Mark Basinger and Becky Elkin on 2025-06-29 Richmond Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka, Mark Basinger and Becky Elkin on 2025-06-29 Richmond Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jeff Niznik, David George, Larry Chen, Sarah Toner, Joye Zhou on 2025-06-20 Richmond Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Dean Furbish, Lior S. Carlson on 2025-06-18 Alamance Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jeff Niznik, David George on 2025-06-13 Cumberland Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jeff Niznik, David George on 2025-06-13 Cumberland Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka 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: 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: John Petranka, Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2025-05-09 Cumberland Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jeff Niznik, David George on 2025-05-09 Cumberland Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: David George, Jeff Niznik, Brian Bockhahn, Jim Petranka, John Petranka, Becky Elkin on 2025-05-09 Cumberland Co. Comment:		Recorded by: David George, Tracy Feldman on 2025-05-09 Cumberland Co. Comment: