Moths of North Carolina
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Ipimorpha Members:
4 NC Records

Ipimorpha pleonectusa Grote, 1873 - Even-lined Sallow

Ipimorpha pleonectusa
Taxonomy
Superfamily: Noctuoidea Family: NoctuidaeSubfamily: NoctuinaeTribe: XyleniniP3 Number: 932679 MONA Number: 9555.00
Comments: One of three species in this genus that occur in North America north of Mexico (Lafontaine and Schmidt, 2010) and the only one that has been recorded in North Carolina
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984); Beadle and Leckie (2012)Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Forbes (1954)Technical Description, Immature Stages: Forbes (1954)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: A medium-sized pale grayish to brownish Noctuid with contrasting pale lines. The ground color is even across the wing and varies from pale gray to yellowish-brown to reddish-brown. The basal, antemedian, postmedian, and subterminal lines are all fine, pale, and even, with the antemedian and postmedian the strongest and usually fairly straight. The orbicular, claviform, and reniform spots are large, filled with a darker shade than the ground color, and outlined with the same pale color as the lines. Hindwings are a lighter fuscous (Forbes, 1954). Forbes noted a resemblance to Cosmia species, but in calami -- our only species in that genus -- the antemedian is much more oblique and the postmedian more sinuous than in pleonectusa; the claviform is also missing in calami, which is also smaller than pleonectusa.
Wingspan: 30-35 mm (Forbes, 1954)
Adult Structural Features: Male reproductive structures are illustrated by Forbes (1948) and are distinctive within our fauna
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: Larvae are green with a broad white dorsal stripe and finer white subdorsal and subspiracular lines (Forbes, 1954). The head is black-and-white, which Forbes states looks like a ladybug when stuck out of its folded leaf shelter. See Wagner et al. (2011) for a more complete description and photographs.
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos, especially where associated with known host plants.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Our only known record comes from the western Piedmont
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: The one North Carolina record for this species comes from a site that contains an extensive floodplain. However, the presence of Populus within this area is unclear.
Larval Host Plants: Stenophagous, feeding on Aspen and other poplars (Populus spp.) (Forbes, 1954; Wagner et al., 2011) - View
Observation Methods: Comes to light to some extent. Wagner et al. (2011) also state that it comes to sugar baits.
Wikipedia
See also Habitat Account for General Poplar Forests
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status: W3
Natural Heritage Program Ranks: GNR [S2S3]
State Protection: Has no legal protection, although permits are required to collect it on state parks and other public lands.
Comments: The population of this species in North Carolina -- if it is, in fact, resident where discovered -- is highly disjunct -- this species is primarily northern in its distribution, with the nearest records to ours probably those in the Ohio Valley (see Moth Photographers Group Website). If Ipimorpha were found extensively across the state, we would expect to have found it in the brownwater floodplains in the Coastal Plain, which have been sampled for moths in several intensive surveys. Elsewhere within the state, however, Populus-containing habitats have been poorly surveyed, and it is possible that Ipimorpha could occur more widely. Until such surveys are conducted, we do not have enough information on the distribution, abundance, and habitat affinities of this species in order to estimate its conservation status within the state.

 Photo Gallery for Ipimorpha pleonectusa - Even-lined Sallow

Photos: 3

Recorded by: Darryl Willis on 2013-06-19
Cabarrus Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Darryl Willis on 2012-08-20
Cabarrus Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Taylor Piephoff on 2010-06-06
Mecklenburg Co.
Comment: