Cycnia oregonensis is a moth in the family Erebidae. It is found in most of North America, from coast to coast and from the border with Mexico north to central Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia.[1]

Cycnia oregonensis
Cycnia oregonensis oregonensis, male
Cycnia oregonensis tristis, male
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Superfamily: Noctuoidea
Family: Erebidae
Subfamily: Arctiinae
Genus: Cycnia
Species:
C. oregonensis
Binomial name
Cycnia oregonensis
(Stretch, 1873)
Synonyms
  • Euchaetes oregonensis Stretch, 1873

The length of the forewings is 19–20 mm. Throughout most of its range, adults are nearly uniform in color and pattern. Subspecies tristis is limited to a small area near Olympia, Washington and is the only known population of this species in Washington west of the Cascades. It is distinctly grayer and less patterned than all other populations.

The larvae feed on Apocynum species.

Subspecies

edit
  • Cycnia oregonensis oregonensis
  • Cycnia oregonensis tristis Crabo, 2013 (Washington)

References

edit
  1. ^ Crabo, L.G. ; Davis, M. ; Hammond, P. ; Mustelin, T ; Shepard, J., 2013: Five new species and three new subspecies of Erebidae and Noctuidae (Insecta, Lepidoptera) from Northwestern North America, with notes on Chytolita Grote (Erebidae) and Hydraecia Guenée (Noctuidae). Zookeys 264: 85–123. Abstract and full article: doi:10.3897/zookeys.264.4304   This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.