Moths of North Carolina
Scientific Name:
Common Name:
 Family (Alpha):
« »
View PDFNoctuidae Members:
Ponometia Members:
64 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 erastrioides
Flight 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: 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

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

Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2025-05-01
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2024-07-31
Madison Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2024-07-07
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2024-06-28
Madison Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2024-06-24
Yancey Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2024-06-24
Yancey Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2024-06-02
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Simpson Eason on 2023-08-19
Watauga Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2023-07-31
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: K. Bischof on 2023-06-07
Transylvania Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2022-08-14
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: John Petranka on 2022-08-09
Watauga Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Ken Kneidel on 2022-08-08
Yancey Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: tom ward on 2022-07-06
Buncombe Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: tom ward on 2022-06-07
Buncombe Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2021-07-27
Madison Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2020-08-09
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2020-07-17
Madison Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2020-07-01
Guilford Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2019-08-09
Madison Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2019-07-22
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2019-05-18
Madison Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Ken Kneidel on 2018-08-04
Yancey Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2018-07-07
Madison Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2018-07-02
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2018-06-02
Guilford Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2018-06-02
Guilford Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2018-05-27
Madison Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2018-05-27
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Darryl Willis on 2016-05-25
Cabarrus Co.
Comment: