Orthosia hibisci (Guenée) Speckled Green Fruitworm Moth

Pogue, Michael G., 2010, The Hadeninae (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA 2380, Zootaxa 2380 (1), pp. 1-75 : 20-21

11. Orthosia hibisci (Guenée) Speckled Green Fruitworm Moth (adult), Speckled Green Fruitworm (larva)

( Figs. 22–23 , Map 12)

Identification: Forewing length 15–19 mm. Male has serrate antenna, filiform in female. Forewing ground color is grayish brown to pale reddish brown. Antemedial line varies from being absent to dark reddish brown with black scales, but in most specimens the line is faint. Postmedial line can be absent to consisting of a series of black spots on veins from costa to posterior margin with dark reddish brown between the costal spots. A thin cream-colored subterminal line shaded proximally with dark reddish brown is present. Orbicular spot is gray and reniform spot is gray dorsally and dark gray ventrally; both spots are outlined with creamcolored scales. Hindwing is pale gray with a faint discal spot.

Flight period: March to May.

Collected localities: North Carolina : Haywood Co., Purchase Knob; Swain Co., Beetree Ridge, Upper Noland Divide Trailhead ca. Clingman’s Dome , Big Cove Road site c, Big Cove Road site p, Big Cove Road site b, Noland Creek , Smokemont . Tennessee: Blount Co., Cold Spring Gap; Cocke Co. , Cosby Ranger Station , Foothills Parkway south overlook. (16 specimens)

Elevation range: 1750–4924 ft. (533–1501m)

General distribution: This is a widespread species distributed across Canada from Nova Scotia to British Columbia and in the U.S. from New Hampshire south to South Carolina, throughout the Midwest to the southwest, and west coast .

Larval hosts: A common and highly polyphagous species, including both deciduous and coniferous trees and woody shrubs. In the prairie regions of Canada, the preferred host is quaking aspen and in Ontario it is white birch ( Prentice 1962). The following hosts are arranged in order of preference based on the number of specimens collected from each host: quaking aspen ( Populus tremuloides Michx. , Salicaceae ), willow, ( Salix sp. , Salicaceae ), European white birch ( Betula pendula Roth , Betulaceae ), balsam poplar ( Populus balsamifera L., Salicaceae ), white spruce ( Picea glauca (Moench) Voss , Pinaceae ), speckled alder ( Alnus incana (L.) Moench, Betulaceae ), boxelder ( Acer negundo L., Aceraceae ), American elm ( Ulmus americana L., Ulmaceae ), chokecherry ( Prunus virginiana L., Rosaceae ), basswood ( Tilia americana L., Tiliaceae ), green ash ( Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marsh. , Oleaceae ), red alder ( Albus rubra Bong. , Betulaceae ), white ash ( Fraxinus americana L., Oleaceae ), bigtooth aspen ( Populus grandidentata Michx. , Salicaceae ), bur oak ( Quercus . macrocarpa Michx. , Fagaceae ), Douglas-fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco , Pinaceae ), jack pine ( Pinus banksiana Lamb. , Pinaceae ), hickory ( Carya sp. , Juglandaceae ), balsam fir ( Abies balsamea (L.) Mill., Pinaceae ), hazel ( Corylopsis sp. , Hamamelidaceae ), Oregon white oak ( Quercus garryana Douglas ex Hook. , Fagaceae ), red oak ( Quercus rubra L., Fagaceae ), mountain ash ( Sorbus sp. , Rosaceae ), tamarack ( Larix laricina (Du Roi) K. Koch , Pinaceae ), western hemlock ( Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg. , Pinaceae ), ironwood ( Eusideroxylon sp. Teijsm. & Binnend., Lauraceae ), black spruce ( Picea mariana (Mill.) Britton, Sterns, & Poggenb. , Pinaceae ), western red cedar ( Thuja plicata Donn ex D. Don , Cupressaceae ), pin cherry ( Prunus pennsylvanica L., Rosaceae ), beech ( Fagus sp. , Fagaceae ), hemlock ( Tsuga sp. , Pinaceae ), locust ( Gleditsia sp. , Fabaceae ), arborvitae ( Thuja occidentalis L., Cupressaceae ), apple ( Malus sp. , Rosaceae ), alternateleaf dogwood ( Cornus alternifolia L. f., Cornaceae ), cranberry ( Vaccinium macrocarpon Aiton , Ericaceae ), black cottonwood ( Populus balsamifera L. ssp. trichocarpa (Torr. & A. Gray ex Hook.) Brayshaw , Salicaceae ), and redosier dogwood ( Cornus sericea L., Cornaceae ) ( Prentice 1962). Other hosts include autumn olive ( Elaeagnus umbellata Thunb. , Elaeagnaceae ) and gooseberry ( Ribes sp. , Grossulariaceae ) ( Wagner 2005). The larva is illustrated in Wagner (2005).

MAP 12. Collecting localities of Orthosia hibisci .

Figures

FIGURES 17–24. Adults. 17, Morrisonia triangula, f, South Carolina, Charleston Co., McClellanville, Wedge Plantation, 7 Apr. 1977, D.C. Ferguson; 18, Orthosia alurina, f, New York, Tompkins Co., Ithaca, Forest Home, Golf Course Woods, 23 Apr. 1961, D.C. Ferguson; 19, Orthosia alurina, f, New York, Tompkins Co., Ithaca, Forest Home, Golf Course Woods, 23 Apr. 1961, D.C. Ferguson; 20, Orthosia garmani, f, Connecticut, New Haven Co., Bethany, 6 Apr. 1969, D.C. Ferguson; 21, Orthosia garmani, f, Pennsylvania, Bucks Co., Reading, 9 Apr. 1959; 22, Orthosia hibisci, f, New York, 30 Mar. 1905; 23, Orthosia hibisci, m, Connecticutt, New Haven Co., New Haven, Yale Preserve, 17 Apr. 1964, D.C. Ferguson; 24, Orthosia revicta, f, New York, Tompkins Co., Ringwood Reserve near Dryden, 2 May 1965, D.C. Ferguson.