Moths of North Carolina
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Apamea Members:
31 NC Records

Apamea helva (Grote, 1875) - Yellow Three-Spot Moth


Taxonomy
Superfamily: Noctuoidea Family: NoctuidaeSubfamily: NoctuinaeTribe: ApameiniP3 Number: 932322.00 MONA Number: 9373.00
Comments: A Holarctic genus of about 140 species, with 63 recorded in North America, mostly from boreal or montane habitats (Mikkola et al., 2009). Seventeen species occur in North Carolina with the majority of records coming from the mountains.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984; as Agroperina helva); Beadle and Leckie (2012)Online Photographs: 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.
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 are all from the Mountains. Habitats include high elevation forests, cove forests, mountain bogs, and alluvial forests.
Larval Host Plants: Larvae in Iowa were found in sod grasses (Crumb, 1956). We do not have any feeding records in North Carolina. - View
Wikipedia
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status:
Natural Heritage Program Ranks: G5 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 Apamea helva - Yellow Three-Spot Moth

Photos: 4

Recorded by: tom ward on 2023-09-06
Buncombe Co.
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Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2018-08-31
Madison Co.
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Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2018-08-31
Madison Co.
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Recorded by: Jackie Nelson / Doug Blatny on 2013-09-09
Ashe Co.
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