Moths of North Carolina
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Common Name:
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View PDFNoctuidae Members:
Megalographa Members:
62 NC Records

Megalographa biloba (Stephens, 1830) - Bilobed Looper

Taxonomy
Superfamily: Noctuoidea Family: NoctuidaeSubfamily: PlusiinaeTribe: PlusiiniP3 Number: 931209.00 MONA Number: 8907.00
Comments: The sole member of this genus in North America north of Mexico (Lafontaine and Poole, 1991; Lafontaine and Schmidt, 2010)
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984; as Autographa biloba); Beadle and Leckie (2012)Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF                                                                                 
Adult Markings: A medium-sized, brown Looper, shaded with red or yellow and possessing a distinctive bilobed silver stigma. The transverse lines are also silver, as is the dorsal outline of the reniform, which forms a conspicuous c-shaped mark.
Wingspan: 35-40 mm (Forbes, 1954)
Adult Structural Features: Male and female reproductive structures are described and illustrated by Lafontaine and Poole (1991) and are unique within our fauna.
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: Larvae are very distinctive -- green with white lines and dashes and covered with a pelage of fairly long, white hair-like spines (Lafontaine and Poole, 1991)
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos, especially where associated with known host plants.
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 from a wide range of open habitats. Records from the high mountains may represent migrants.
Larval Host Plants: Polyphagous, feeding on a wide variety of herbaceous plants, including crop species (Lafontaine and Poole, 1991; Wagner et al., 2011)
Wikipedia
See also Habitat Account for General Fields, Gardens, and Ruderal Habitats
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status:
Natural Heritage Program Ranks: G5 S4S5
State Protection: Has no legal protection, although permits are required to collect it on state parks and other public lands.
Comments:

 Photo Gallery for Megalographa biloba - Bilobed Looper

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

Recorded by: R. Newman on 2023-03-03
Carteret Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: tom ward on 2022-06-12
Buncombe Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Dean Furbish on 2022-06-03
Wake Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2022-04-22
Madison Co.
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Recorded by: R. Newman on 2021-06-24
Carteret Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: R. Newman on 2021-05-17
Carteret Co.
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Recorded by: R. Newman on 2021-05-17
Carteret Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2020-07-19
Guilford Co.
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Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2020-06-24
Guilford Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2019-07-11
Guilford Co.
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Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2019-07-05
Guilford Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2019-06-23
Guilford Co.
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Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2019-06-23
Guilford Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Simpson Eason on 2019-06-16
Durham Co.
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Recorded by: Simpson Eason on 2019-06-13
Durham Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2019-06-11
Guilford Co.
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Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2019-06-07
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2019-06-07
Madison Co.
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Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2019-06-04
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2019-06-01
Guilford Co.
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Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2019-05-26
Guilford Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2019-05-20
Guilford Co.
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Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2019-05-20
Guilford Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: K. Bischof on 2019-05-09
Yancey Co.
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Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2019-05-04
Guilford Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2019-03-24
Guilford Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2019-03-24
Guilford Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: David L. Heavner on 2018-06-19
Buncombe Co.
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Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2018-05-23
Guilford Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Hunter Phillips on 2016-04-23
Onslow Co.
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