Moths of North Carolina
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View PDFNoctuidae Members:
Argillophora Members:
51 NC Records

Argillophora furcilla Grote, 1873 - Silver Fork Cane Moth

Taxonomy
Superfamily: Noctuoidea Family: NoctuidaeSubfamily: EustotiinaeP3 Number: 931299.00 MONA Number: 9060.00
Comments: The only member of its genus occurring in North America (Lafontaine and Schmidt, 2010)
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Grote (1873); Forbes, (1954)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: A medium-small Noctuid. The ground color is clay to buff, with a prominent streak of silver running from the base of the forewing to about a third of the way along the inner margin and from there outward to the cell, where it merges with a small spot with two small points (i.e., the fork). The outward side of the silver streak is shaded with blackish and a similar dark streak runs from the base of the wing to the silver streak near where it ends at the cell. The normal transverse lines are not evident and the orbicular is represented by a small black spot. The hindwings are pale, usually edged with yellow (Grote, 1873; Forbes, 1954). Franclemontia interrogans is another yellowish-brown cane-feeding Noctuid, but is larger than Argillophora and has a hockey-stick shaped white mark in the middle of the wing rather than the long, bent silver streak characteristic of Argillophora.
Wingspan: 24-25 mm (Grote, 1873; Forbes, 1954)
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Possibly occurs statewide with the exception of the High Mountains.
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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