Hepialidae

Pohl, Greg, Anweiler, Gary, Schmidt, Christian & Kondla, Norbert, 2010, An annotated list of the Lepidoptera of Alberta, Canada, ZooKeys 38 (38), pp. 1-549 : 49-50

3. Hepialidae – ghost moths

Medium-sized to large (25–100 mm wingspan) stout-bodied moths, usually with or-ange–brown or brown wings. Th e forewings have a pronounced jugal lobe, which couples the forewing with the hindwing in flight. These moths can be separated from other moths by the combination of reduced antennae, proboscis, and palps. Adults are crepuscular; the males of many species form swarms known as leks and (in at least some species) release pheromones to attract females. Females may produce thousands of eggs and are known to broadcast them in flight. Larvae are stem and root borers, and most take more than 1 year to reach maturity.

Approximately 500 species of hepialids are known worldwide, most in the tropics and Australia. Nineteen species are known from North America, six of which occur in AB. Th e higher taxonomy of this group is currently in flux. No comprehensive published work exists, and the treatment of North American species is scattered among several publications ( Barnes and Benjamin 1925; Wagner 1988; Wagner and Tindale 1988; Schmidt and Lawrie 1999). All but one of the known AB species were illustrated by Handfield (1999). Nielsen et al. (2000) provided a global catalog and bibliography.

3 * R Gazoryctra hyperboreus (Möschler, 1862) M Aug – M Sep m B – T: Barnes and Benjamin (1925) L: Bowman (1951) C: NFRC, OLDS, UASM

4 R Gazoryctra roseicaput (Neumoegen and Dyar, 1893) Aug M – – T: Barnes and Benjamin (1925) L: Bowman (1951) C: NFRC, UASM

5 * R Gazoryctra novigannus ( Barnes and Benjamin, 1925) Aug – Sep M b G T: Barnes and Benjamin (1925) L: Barnes and Benjamin (1925), Bowman (1951) C: CNC, NFRC, OLDS, UASM

6 * R Korscheltellus gracilis (Grote, 1864) Jul m B – Conifer Swift Moth T: Wagner (1988) L: Bowman (1951), Wagner (1988), Pohl et al. (2004b) C: NFRC, OLDS, UASM

7 * U Sthenopis argenteomaculatus (Harris, 1842) M Jun – E Jul m B – Silver-spotted Ghost Moth T: Forbes (1923) L: Bowman (1951) C: Unknown

8 * R Sthenopis purpurascens (Packard, 1863) E Jul – E Aug – B g T: Schmidt and Lawrie (1999) L: Bowman (1951), Prentice (1965), Schmidt and Lawrie (1999) C: CNC, NFRC, OLDS, PMAE, UASM

Nepticuloidea