Domain Eukarya Class Insecta Phylum Arthropoda Rank Species | Kingdom Animalia Family Zygaenidae Genus Pyromorpha Order Butterflies and moths | |
Similar Butterflies and moths, Harrisina, Harrisina metallica, Apoda biguttata, Natada nasoni | ||
Pyromorpha dimidiata, the orange-patched smoky moth, is a species of leaf skeletonizer moth of the Zygaenidae family found in eastern North America.
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Adults
Adult wings are typically held horizontally over the abdomen when at rest. The forewings have two solid color regions: (1) dark gray, sometimes with a blue sheen, in the terminal half of the wing and in the basal half only near the inner margin, and (2) orange in the basal half of the wing except near the inner margin.
Adults can be confused with adults of the unrelated black-and-yellow lichen moth (Lycomorpha pholus in the Erebidae family), which has a similar two-toned forewing pattern but a later, summer flight period. Adults of both moth species also resemble the net-winged beetles of the genus Calopteron.
Range
The species' occurrence range extends from Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Missouri in the west to Florida, New York, and Rhode Island in the east.
Adults
Adults have been reported from March to August, with most sightings in May and June.