Moths of North Carolina

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View PDF	Crambidae Members:	Syngamia Members:	28 NC Records

Syngamia florella (Stoll, 1781) - Orange-spotted Flower Moth

Taxonomy

Superfamily:
Pyraloidea

Family:
Crambidae

Subfamily:
Pyraustinae

Tribe:
Spilomelini

P3 Number:
80a1101

MONA Number:
5284.00

Other Common Name:
Red-waisted Florella Moth

Identification

Field Guide Descriptions:

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

Technical Description, Immature Stages: Hayden (2019).

Adult Markings: This brilliantly marked species with tropical affinities is unmistakable and the only one in its genus in North America. The forewing has a brown ground color that is tinged with reddish orange, along with three large yellow to orangish patches. The basal patch reaches the inner margin, while the other two touch the costa. The hindwing ground has more reddish-orange relative to the forewing, along with two large oval patches that are surrounded by a zone of darker shading. The fringe on the outer margin of the forewing and hindwing is mostly white with a dark brown basal line. The head, thorax, and abdomen offer additional brilliant coloration, with bands of dark brown, orange, brick red and silvery white intermixed.

Wingspan: 15-19 mm (Leckie and Beadle, 2018)

Forewing Length: 8–9 mm (Hayden, 2019).

Adult Structural Features: Hayden (2019) has images and descriptions of the male and female genitalia.

Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.

Immatures and Development: The larvae feed on the leaves of their host plants, often stripping the epidermis and leaving small windows. They will also feed on flowers (Hayden, 2019). dos Santos Cabral et al. (2023) found them feeding on and damaging the leaves of Sweet Potato in Brazil. The hatchlings and early instars loosely folded parts of the leaf blade with silk threads. They fed by scraping the leaf tissues internally, but left the external cuticle intact. The final instar completely folded a part of the Sweet Potato leaf to form a tight shelter and pupated within the shelter. Hayden (2019) reported that pupation occurs in rolled leaves. The older instars have light yellowish-green bodies and heads. The prothoracic shield has a longitudinal, dark-brown stripe on each side that continues onto the side of the head as a lighter and more diffuse and irregular brown patch.

Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos, especially where associated with known host plants.

Distribution in North Carolina

Distribution: Syngamia florella is a very wide-spread species that occurs from southern South America northward through Central America and the Caribbean to the southeastern U.S. and occasionally beyond. In the U.S., this species is most common in Florida and along the Gulf Coast to southeastern Texas, but scattered records occur elsewhere from southern New York southward to Florida and westward to central Texas, eastern Oklahoma, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. The more northern records may reflect long-distance movements from Florida and the Gulf Coast states (Pickering and Staples, 2016), but this has not been fully demonstrated. As of 2023, we have records from all three physiographic provinces, with most from the Coastal Plain. It is uncertain if our records reflect a resident species or one that engages in long-distant dispersal events from more southern localities.

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
Flight Comments: The adults fly year-round in Florida and June through December in Louisiana, with a peak flight in September and October (Brou, 2002). Records from the northern part of the range are from August through November. As of 2023, our records are from mid-August through mid-November.

Habitats and Life History

Habitats: Most of our records are from dry Coastal habitats and from residential neighborhoods.

Larval Host Plants: The caterpillars appear to mostly specialize on low-growing plants in the family Rubiaceae (Fleming et al., 2014; Hayden, 2019), and mostly on species of Spermacoce, including S. exilis, S. laevis, S. tetraquetra and S. verticillata. Other hosts that are in the Rubiaceae include Richardia grandiflora and Pentas lanceolata. dos Santos Cabral (2023) reported that the larvae feed on Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas; Convolvulaceae) in Brazil, and Beadle and Leckie (2018) listed a Boehmeria (Urticaceae) as a host, but this has not been verified with additional observations. - View

Observation Methods: The adults are diurnally active, but also come to lights at night. They are commonly seen nectaring on low-growing native plants and ornamentals.

Wikipedia

Status in North Carolina

Natural Heritage Program Status:

Natural Heritage Program Ranks: GNR SU

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

Comments: The residential status of this species needs to be confirmed in North Carolina. This species has a wide range in the Neotropics and could be present here primarily as an emigrant from more southern locales.

Photo Gallery for Syngamia florella - Orange-spotted Flower Moth

Photos: 22

	Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2025-10-21 Wilson Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2025-10-21 Wilson Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2025-09-27 Brunswick Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2025-09-26 Brunswick Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2025-09-26 Brunswick Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2024-11-01 Brunswick Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2024-10-13 Madison Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2024-10-04 Brunswick Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2024-10-04 Brunswick Co. Comment:		Recorded by: R. Newman on 2024-10-03 Carteret Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: R. Newman on 2024-08-13 Carteret Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2023-10-01 Brunswick Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2023-09-30 Brunswick Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2023-08-19 Brunswick Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2023-08-19 Brunswick Co. Comment:		Recorded by: R. Newman on 2022-10-17 Carteret Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: R. Newman on 2021-11-10 Carteret Co. Comment:		Recorded by: R. Newman on 2021-10-30 Carteret Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Mark Shields on 2020-11-05 Onslow Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Mark Shields on 2020-10-14 Onslow Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Mark Shields on 2019-09-06 Onslow Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Darryl Willis on 2016-10-19 Cabarrus Co. Comment: