primrose moth

not listed

NNR - Unranked

SNR - Unranked

not listed

Primrose moth is a common, colorful, small to medium-sized, flower moth. It occurs in the United States from Maine to New Jersey, west to Minnesota and Illinois, and south along the Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia. There are also isolated populations in Nebraska and Oklahoma. Outside of these areas, there are scattered reports everywhere except in the desert southwest. It also occurs in southern Canada from Nova Scotia to Alberta. It is most common in the northeast, less common in Minnesota, where it reaches the western extent of its main range.

Primrose moth larvae are food specialists. They feed on the flower buds, not the leaves, of just a handful of species in the large genus Oenothera. These include common evening primrose, Nuttall’s evening primrose, northern evening primrose, tall evening primrose, rhombic evening primrose, and biennial beeblossom. Adults are active at night from late June to early September, a period that coincides with the blooming time of its host plants. They are found in meadows, prairies, fields, and roadsides, where their host species occur. They usually spend the day within the evening primrose corolla, which closes over the moth at dawn, leaving only the moth’s yellow wingtip exposed. Sometimes they spend the day perched on the stem of the plant, where their cryptic coloration resembles dead but still clinging flower petals.

Adults are ⅝″ to ¾″ (15 to 19 mm) in length and have a 11⁄16″ to 17⁄16″ (27 to 36 mm) wingspan.

The head is pink. The antennae on both sexes are thread-like.

On the upper side of the thorax, there is a loose tuft of hairs and a pair of densely hair-covered, scale-like plates (patagia) that cover the wing bases. The tuft and the patagia are pale yellow. The undersides of the thorax and abdomen are pink.

The forewings are mostly light to dark shades of bright pink. There is a rectangular, pale-yellow patch on the inner half of the basal area. The remainder of the basal area is often darker than the median area. The subterminal line is a broad band. It is often darker pink, and it is preceded by a narrower, pale-yellowish band. The circular (orbicular) and kidney-shaped (reniform) spots are usually darker pink. Beyond the subterminal line, the wings and the fringe are light yellow.

The hindwings are uniformly creamy white.

Total length: ⅝″ to ¾″ (15 to 19 mm)

Wingspan: 11⁄16″ to 17⁄16″ (27 to 36 mm)

Meadows, prairies, fields, and roadsides

One generation per year: late June to early September

Adults are active at night and will come to lights. They spend the day in the evening primrose corolla or on the stem of the plant,.

The female lays eggs on buds at the growing tip of a flowering shoot. No attempt is made to conceal the eggs between the buds or beneath flower petals. When the eggs hatch four or five days later, the larvae bore into the bud. They feed on the reproductive structures of the plant. Later stages (instars) bore into seed capsules to consume the developing seeds. Mature larvae drop to the ground, bore into the soil, and pupate. The pupae overwinter underground. Adults emerge the following spring in late June and July.

Flower buds of common evening primrose, Nuttall’s evening primrose, northern evening primrose, tall evening primrose, rhombic evening primrose, and biennial beeblossom

Flower nectar

Sources

4, 21, 24, 27, 29, 30, 71, 75, 82, 83.

Common

Location: Albany, NY

Location: Albany, NY