Moths of North Carolina
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View PDFNoctuidae Members: Papaipema Members: 1 NC Records

Papaipema nepheleptena (Dyar, 1908) - Turtle Head Borer Moth

Papaipema nepheleptenaPapaipema nepheleptena
Taxonomy
Superfamily:
Noctuoidea		 Family:
Noctuidae		Subfamily:
Noctuinae		Tribe:
Apameini		P3 Number:
932473		 MONA Number:
9490.00		 Other Common Name:
Turtlehead Borer
Comments: One of 44 species in this genus that occur in North America north of Mexico (Lafontaine and Schmidt, 2010, 2015), 30 of which have been recorded in North Carolina
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Beadle and Leckie (2012)Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Forbes (1954)                                                                                 
Structural photos
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.
Papaipema nepheleptenaAlamance 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%20Hanover 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 one record for this species comes from a rich cove forest.
Larval Host Plants: Larvae feed on turtlehead (Chelone), including White Turtlehead (C. glabra) (Wagner et al., 2011). There is also a BugGuide record (Aaron Brees, 2016) of a larva in Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata) in Iowa. - View
Wikipedia
See also Habitat Account for General Montane Herbaceous Peatlands
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status: W-PK
Natural Heritage Program Ranks: G4G5 S1S3
State Protection: Has no legal protection, although permits are required to collect it on state parks and other public lands.
Comments:

 Photo Gallery for Papaipema nepheleptena - Turtle Head Borer Moth

Photos: 2
Papaipema nepheleptenaRecorded by: Merrill Lynch on 2013-09-30
Watauga Co.
Comment: 		Papaipema nepheleptenaRecorded by: Merrill Lynch on 2013-09-30
Watauga Co.
Comment: