Moths of North Carolina
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Diachrysia Members:
17 NC Records

Diachrysia aereoides (Grote, 1864) - Dark-spotted Looper

Taxonomy
Superfamily: Noctuoidea Family: NoctuidaeSubfamily: PlusiinaeTribe: PlusiiniP3 Number: 931178.00 MONA Number: 8896.00
Comments: One of two species in this genus that occurs in North America (Lafontaine and Poole, 1991), both of which are found in North Carolina. Lafontaine and Poole note that this genus appears to be quite heterogeneneous and that our two species may eventually be placed in separate genera.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Beadle and Leckie (2012)Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Forbes (1954, as Plusia aeroides); Lafontaine and Poole (1991)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: A medium-sized Looper, with dull orange, fairly broad and apically pointed forewings and dull fuscous hindwings. Transverse lines are all fine, brown, and run fairly straight across the wing; the postmedian is followed by a pale yellow band that is somewhat metallic and pink shades are present in patches in the basal, median, and terminal areas. The orbicular is small or obsolete; the reniform and suborbicular are both fairly distinct and surrounded by narrow brown lines. No stigma is present.
Wingspan: 32 mm (Forbes, 1954)
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
Habitats and Life History
Habitats: Our records come almost entirely from high elevations. While we have one record from an open, herb-dominated ridge, most of our records come from forested areas, including stands of Spruce-fir forests, high elevation hardwoods, and cove forests.
Larval Host Plants: Larvae have been recorded on several species of herbaceous plants, including members of the Asteraceae, Lamiaceae, and Rosaceae; some woody species may also be used (Lafontaine and Poole, 1991) - View
Wikipedia
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status:
Natural Heritage Program Ranks: G5 S2S3
State Protection: Has no legal protection, although permits are required to collect it on state parks and other public lands.
Comments:

 Photo Gallery for Diachrysia aereoides - Dark-spotted Looper

Photos: 5

Recorded by: Richard Teper on 2022-06-29
Avery Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: J.B. Sullivan on 2014-07-03
Ashe Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Doug Blatny / Jackie Nelson on 2011-06-25
Ashe Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Doug Blatny / Jackie Nelson on 2011-06-25
Ashe Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: J.B. Sullivan on 2002-07-11
Watauga Co.
Comment: