Moths of North Carolina

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View PDF	Noctuidae Members:	Autographa Members:	206 NC Records

Autographa precationis (Guenée, 1852) - Common Looper Moth

Taxonomy

Superfamily:
Noctuoidea

Family:
Noctuidae

Subfamily:
Plusiinae

Tribe:
Plusiini

P3 Number:
931191

MONA Number:
8908.00

Identification

Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984); Beadle and Leckie (2012)

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

Technical Description, Adults: Forbes (1954, as Plusia precationis); Lafontaine and Poole (1991)

Adult Markings: A medium-sized, dark brown Looper, with some areas of the forewing having a bronzy luster. The silvery stigma is the most conspicuous mark, composed of an open loop followed by solid silver spot that may be separate or partially joined to the loop. Chrysodeixis includens is similar in size, pattern, and coloration. In C. includens, however, the stigma is rounded and U-shaped whereas it is a more pointed V-shape in A. precationis. C. includens also has two dark wedges that are absent in A. precationis, one projecting outward from the basal line and one located in the terminal area (Forbes, 1954). According to Lafontaine and Poole (1991), precationis has rusty-red tints that are missing in includens, and the reniform is surrounded by a thin (often obscure) white line that is always absent in includens.

Wingspan: 33-38 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
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: Wagner et al. (2011) list fields, gardens, agricultural fields, waste place, and other open and early successional habitats as used by this species. While we have some records from open habitats in the Piedmont, the majority of our records come from forested sites in the Mountains. Records from summits, however, may represent migrants.

Larval Host Plants: Larvae are polyphagous on herbaceous plants, including some crop species. Wagner (2005) specifically mentions cabbage, lettuce, clover, dandelion, sunflower, Hollyhock (Alcea rosea), and vervain (Verbena spp.). We do not have any feeding records in North Carolina. - View

Wikipedia

See also Habitat Account for General Forests and Fields

Status in North Carolina

Natural Heritage Program Status:

Natural Heritage Program Ranks: G5 SNR [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 Autographa precationis - Common Looper Moth

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

	Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2025-10-05 Madison Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2025-08-15 Ashe Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2025-06-25 Buncombe Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2025-06-25 Buncombe Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2025-04-19 Madison Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2024-08-19 Madison Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2024-08-07 Mitchell Co. Comment: Collected in sweep net; host plant not identified.		Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2024-08-07 Mitchell Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Owen McConnell on 2024-08-02 Graham Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2024-06-19 Madison Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2024-06-05 Madison Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Emily Stanley on 2024-04-11 Buncombe Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Simpson Eason on 2024-03-28 Durham Co. Comment:		Recorded by: K. Bischof on 2024-03-08 Transylvania Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Owen McConnell on 2023-10-27 Graham Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka, Bo Sullivan and Becky Elkin on 2023-09-14 Macon Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Stefanie Hedrick on 2023-08-17 Mecklenburg Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Chuck Smith on 2023-08-16 Davidson Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: John Petranka, David George on 2023-08-05 Orange Co. Comment:		Recorded by: John Petranka on 2023-08-01 Orange Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: John Petranka on 2023-08-01 Orange Co. Comment:		Recorded by: David George, Stephen Dunn, Jeff Niznik on 2023-07-06 Orange Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Stephen Dunn on 2023-07-02 Orange Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Simpson Eason on 2023-06-08 Durham Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: David George, Stephen Dunn, Jeff Niznik on 2023-06-03 Orange Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Simpson Eason on 2023-04-15 Durham Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2022-11-06 Madison Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2022-09-21 Madison Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: David George, L. M. Carlson, Stephen Dunn on 2022-07-15 Orange Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2022-07-11 Guilford Co. Comment: