Moths of North Carolina
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View PDFEuteliidae Members:
Paectes Members:
400 NC Records

Paectes abrostoloides (Guenée, 1852) - Large Paectes Moth

Taxonomy
Superfamily: Noctuoidea Family: EuteliidaeSubfamily: EuteliinaeP3 Number: 931111.00 MONA Number: 8962.00
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984); Beadle and Leckie (2012)Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLD                                                                                 
Adult Markings: The ground color is ash gray, with darker shading over the antemedian and following the postmedian (Forbes, 1954). The antemedian and postmedian are black and doubled. The antemedian has three deep loops, with the middle one bordering a pale basal patch. The postmedian has a strong cusp at the cell and then is incurved to the inner margin. A smaller tooth or bulge is present at vein M3. The hindwings are fuscous with darker veins.

This species is much larger than the otherwise similar P. pygmaea and possess the small tooth or bulge on the inner curve of the postmedian that is absent in pygymaea. The overall effect is that the double PM line of P. abrostoloides is represented as two arcs that connect, with the inner one being the larger. In contrast, P. pygmaea has a single, broad arc that span the entire length between the posterior tooth and the inner margin.
Wingspan: Wingspan 27-32 mm (Metzler and Franclemont, 1991); 25-30 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)

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