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Project Noah Nature School
Elaphria chalcedonia
Owlet Moth (Family Noctuidae): Adult: forewing color a mixture of white, dark gray/blackish, and dull yellow or orangish; basal and upper median areas dull yellowish to orangish; white edging along PM line varies from broad and conspicuous to thin and patchy; dark gray to blackish shading inside AM line next to inner margin, in lower median area, and in subterminal area except for pale yellowish apical patch; reniform spot fairly small and more-or-less flattened/straight; orbicular spot small, elongate/oblong; distance between PM line and apical patch is greater than height of apical patch; hindwing either mostly white with dark gray shading distally (male?) or fairly uniform brownish-gray (female?); fringe pale. Wingspan 24-28 mm.
Range is eastern United States: Maine to Florida, west to Texas, north to Wisconsin. Adults fly year-round in Florida; June to September northward. This one was photographed at a porch light near a southern deciduous forest.
Larvae feed on beardtongue, figwort, monkey-flower, and other members of the snapdragon family. Hodges #9679. Per BAMONA, this spotting is a new species record for Edgefield County, SC.
Spotted on May 10, 2013
Submitted on Jul 16, 2013
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