Moths of North Carolina
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Exyra Members:
46 NC Records

Exyra semicrocea (Guenée, 1852) - No Common Name

Taxonomy
Superfamily: Noctuoidea Family: NoctuidaeSubfamily: PlusiinaeTribe: PlusiiniP3 Number: 931189.00 MONA Number: 9024.00
Comments: One of three members of this genus, all of which are highly associated with Pitcher Plants in the genus Sarracenia, which occurs only in eastern North America. All three species have been recorded in North Carolina. This genus was formerly placed in the Acontiinae (e.g., Forbes, 1954) but was moved to the Plusiinae by Lafontaine and Poole (1991).
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Jones (1921); Forbes (1954); Lafontaine and Poole (1991)Technical Description, Immature Stages: Jones (1921); Forbes (1954); Lafontaine and Poole (1991); Wagner et al. (2011)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: A medium-small, black-and-yellow Noctuid. The head and front half of the thorax are dark, blackish brown, differing from the crimson-and-yellow found in Exyra fax but very similar to the pattern shown by E. ridingsii. Unlike ridingsii, semicrocea lacks a black antemedian line on the forewings, which are usually divided into a yellow basal area and a blackish terminal area, with the line separating the two zones running fairly straight across the wings. Rarely, all yellow forms occur (see illustrations in Lafontaine and Poole, 1991). Ponometia semiflava is another similar sized moth with yellow basal and black terminal areas on its wings. However that species has an all yellow head and thorax and the line dividing the black and yellow portions of the wings runs at a slant across the wings rather than straight-across. Although there has been some confusion in the past, P. semiflava is not associated with Pitcher Plants, although it also occurs in open Longleaf Pine communities where its host plants -- Goldenaster and other composites -- occur.
Adult Structural Features: Male and female genitalia are illustrated in Lafontaine and Poole (1991).
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: Mature larvae are wine red with white, intersegmental bands. Unlike Exyra fax but similar to E. ridingsii, elongated lappets (pinnacula or warts) occur on the anterior portion of the abdomen that apparently help the larvae from getting stuck in the narrow bottom reaches of the pitcher plant tubes (Jones, 1921). In E. semicrocea, the lateral (= subdorsal) lappets on the thorax are smaller than in ridingsii and are much shorter than those on the abdomen and about the same length of the dorsal warts on the thoracic segments (Lafontaine and Poole, 1991; Wagner et al., 2011). The life history of the Exyra species was well-described by Frank Morton Jones, who studied them initially in Richmond County, NC (Jones, 1904). All life stages are closely associated with their host plants: eggs are laid within the entrance to the pitcher; larvae seal off the entrances to the tubes to create a sealed feeding chamber; both overwintering by larvae and pupation typically occurs within the bases of the tubes; and adults typically rest within the tubes between dispersive flights (see Jones, 1921, for details, including slight differences between species).
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos, especially where associated with known host plants.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Formerly occurred in the Mountains, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain, but appears to have been extirpated from the first two regions; recent records are all from the southern part of the Coastal Plain, including the Fall-line Sandhills.
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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