Moths of North Carolina

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View PDF	Geometridae Members:	Lobocleta Members:	180 NC Records

Lobocleta ossularia (Geyer, 1837) - Drab Brown Wave Moth

Taxonomy

Superfamily:
Geometroidea

Family:
Geometridae

Subfamily:
Sterrhinae

Tribe:
Sterrhini

P3 Number:
91a0044

MONA Number:
7094.00

Identification

Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984); Beadle and Leckie (2012)

Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLD

Adult Markings: The front of the head is black and strongly contrasting with the rest of the body (Forbes, 1948). The inter-antennal ridge is heavily powdered with gray and is concolorous with the wings. The ground color of the wings is whitish or cream but they are typically heavily dusted with luteous or fuscous scales. The darker shading may be grouped into irregular lines, which when well separated allows the pale ground color to show. Black discal dots are well-developed and a terminal line of dark dots or bars, sometimes closely adjoining, is usually present.

Wingspan: 12-16 mm (Forbes, 1948)

Adult Structural Features: The antennae of the males are fasciculate (Forbes, 1948)

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.


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 primarily from open habitats in the Coastal Plain, including maritime dunes, Longleaf Pine savannas, flatwoods, and sand ridges. We have a few records from the Piedmont, where old fields and lake shoreline habitats are used. Our few records from the Mountains come from wet meadows and one cedar barrens.

Larval Host Plants: Larvae feed on low forbs, with reported hosts including strawberry (Fragaria), bedstraw (Galium), chickweed (Stellaria), and clover (Trifolium) (Forbes, 1948; Covell, 1984; Heppner, 2007; Robinson et al., 2010). - 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 [S4S5]

State Protection: Has no legal protection, although permits are required to collect it on state parks and other public lands.

Comments:

Photo Gallery for Lobocleta ossularia - Drab Brown Wave Moth

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

	Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2025-08-06 Wilson Co. Comment:		Recorded by: David George, Jeff Niznik on 2025-07-20 Moore Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: David George, Jeff Niznik, Rob Van Epps, Kevin Metcalf on 2025-07-20 Richmond Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Dean Furbish, Lior S. Carlson on 2025-06-18 Alamance Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2025-06-14 Rowan Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2025-06-02 Brunswick Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: David George, Bonnie Eamick on 2025-04-25 Wake Co. Comment:		Recorded by: K. Bischof on 2025-04-19 Chatham Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2025-04-18 Brunswick Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Dean Furbish and Joy Wiggins on 2024-10-31 Pender Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Dean Furbish and Joy Wiggins on 2024-10-29 Pender Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2024-10-04 Brunswick Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2024-07-27 Rowan Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Dean Furbish on 2024-06-07 Wake Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Dean Furbish on 2024-06-02 Wake Co. Comment:		Recorded by: R. Newman on 2024-05-29 Carteret Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2024-05-27 Brunswick Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2024-05-25 Brunswick Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2024-04-21 Brunswick Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2024-04-21 Brunswick Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: David George, Jeff Niznik, Rich Teper on 2024-04-16 New Hanover Co. Comment:		Recorded by: David George, Jeff Niznik, Rich Teper on 2024-04-16 New Hanover Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: R. Newman on 2024-04-10 Carteret Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Dean Furbish on 2024-04-01 Wake Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Dean Furbish on 2024-03-31 Wake Co. Comment:		Recorded by: R. Newman on 2023-11-17 Carteret Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Dean Furbish on 2023-10-26 Pender Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2023-10-09 Brunswick Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2023-10-01 Brunswick Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2023-09-03 Brunswick Co. Comment: