Moths of North Carolina
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View PDFNoctuidae Members: Ponometia Members: 66 NC Records

Ponometia erastrioides (Guenée, 1852) - Small Bird-dropping Moth

Ponometia erastrioidesPonometia erastrioidesPonometia erastrioides
Taxonomy
Superfamily:
Noctuoidea		 Family:
Noctuidae		Subfamily:
Acontiinae		Tribe:
Acontiini		P3 Number:
931319		 MONA Number:
9095.00
Comments: One of 34 species in this genus that occur in North America north of Mexico (Lafontaine and Schmidt, 2010), six of which have been recorded in North Carolina
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984; as Tarachidia erastrioides); Beadle and Leckie (2012)Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLD                                                                                 
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.
Ponometia erastrioidesAlamance Alexander Alleghany Anson Ashe Avery Beaufort Bertie Bladen Brunswick Buncombe Burke Cabarrus Caldwell Camden Carteret Caswell Catawba Chatham Cherokee Chowan Clay Cleveland Columbus Craven Cumberland Currituck Dare Davidson Davie Duplin Durham Edgecombe Forsyth Franklin Gaston Gates Graham Granville Greene Guilford Halifax Harnett Haywood Henderson Hertford Hoke Hyde Iredell Jackson Johnston Jones Lee Lenoir Lincoln Macon Madison Martin McDowell Mecklenburg Mitchell Montgomery Moore Nash New Hanover Northampton Onslow Orange Pamlico Pasquotank Pender Perquimans Person Pitt Polk Randolph Richmond Robeson Rockingham Rowan Rutherford Sampson Scotland Stanly Stokes Surry Swain Transylvania Tyrrell Union Vance Wake Warren Washington Watauga Wayne Wilkes Wilson Yadkin Yancey
Flight Dates:
 High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
 Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
 Piedmont (Pd)
 Coastal Plain (CP)

Click on graph to enlarge 		Image showing flight dates by month for High Mountains greater than 4,000 feet, Low Mountains, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain: adults.
Habitats and Life History
Habitats: Our records come mainly from open habitats, including old fields and disturbed areas in the Piedmont, and and open woodlands and balds in the Mountains.
Larval Host Plants: Larvae feed on ragweed (Ambrosia spp.) (Wagner et al., 2011). There are multiple BugGuide records from outside North Carolina of larvae feeding on Giant Ragweed (A. trifida). - View
Wikipedia
See also Habitat Account for General Successional Fields and Forblands
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status:
Natural Heritage Program Ranks: G5 SNR [S3S4]
State Protection: Has no legal protection, although permits are required to collect it on state parks and other public lands.
Comments:

 Photo Gallery for Ponometia erastrioides - Small Bird-dropping Moth

 37 photos are available. Only the most recent 30 are shown.
Ponometia erastrioides
Recorded by: Marilyn Westphal on 2025-08-19
Henderson Co.
Comment: 		Ponometia erastrioides
Recorded by: Jim Petranka, Becky Elkin and Marilyn Westphal. on 2025-08-09
Henderson Co.
Comment:
Ponometia erastrioides
Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2025-05-01
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Ponometia erastrioides
Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2024-07-31
Madison Co.
Comment:
Ponometia erastrioides
Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2024-07-07
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Ponometia erastrioides
Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2024-06-28
Madison Co.
Comment:
Ponometia erastrioides
Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2024-06-24
Yancey Co.
Comment: 		Ponometia erastrioides
Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2024-06-24
Yancey Co.
Comment:
Ponometia erastrioides
Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2024-06-02
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Ponometia erastrioides
Recorded by: Simpson Eason on 2023-08-19
Watauga Co.
Comment:
Ponometia erastrioides
Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2023-07-31
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Ponometia erastrioides
Recorded by: K. Bischof on 2023-06-07
Transylvania Co.
Comment:
Ponometia erastrioides
Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2022-08-14
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Ponometia erastrioides
Recorded by: John Petranka on 2022-08-09
Watauga Co.
Comment:
Ponometia erastrioides
Recorded by: Ken Kneidel on 2022-08-08
Yancey Co.
Comment: 		Ponometia erastrioides
Recorded by: tom ward on 2022-07-06
Buncombe Co.
Comment:
Ponometia erastrioides
Recorded by: tom ward on 2022-06-07
Buncombe Co.
Comment: 		Ponometia erastrioides
Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2021-07-27
Madison Co.
Comment:
Ponometia erastrioides
Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2020-08-09
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Ponometia erastrioides
Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2020-07-17
Madison Co.
Comment:
Ponometia erastrioides
Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2020-07-01
Guilford Co.
Comment: 		Ponometia erastrioides
Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2019-08-09
Madison Co.
Comment:
Ponometia erastrioides
Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2019-07-22
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Ponometia erastrioides
Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2019-05-18
Madison Co.
Comment:
Ponometia erastrioides
Recorded by: Ken Kneidel on 2018-08-04
Yancey Co.
Comment: 		Ponometia erastrioides
Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2018-07-07
Madison Co.
Comment:
Ponometia erastrioides
Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2018-07-02
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Ponometia erastrioides
Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2018-06-02
Guilford Co.
Comment:
Ponometia erastrioides
Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2018-06-02
Guilford Co.
Comment: 		Ponometia erastrioides
Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2018-05-27
Madison Co.
Comment: