Sympistis dentata

Sympistis dentata, the toothed apharetra moth, is a moth of the family Noctuidae described by Augustus Radcliffe Grote in 1875.[1] It is found from Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and British Columbia to Newfoundland and the northern United States, south in the east to New Jersey. It is listed as threatened in the US state of Connecticut.[2] The habitat consists of acidic spruce bogs and swamps, pine-oak barrens on sandplains, rocky summits and ridges.

Sympistis dentata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Noctuidae
Genus:	Sympistis
Species:	S. dentata
Binomial name
Sympistis dentata (Grote, 1875)
Synonyms
Apatela dentata Grote, 1875 Acronycta pyralis Smith, 1895 Sympistis purpurea Apharetra dentata Apharetra purpurea McDunnough, 1940 Apharetra pyralis

The wingspan is about 29 mm. The forewings are light grey with a scalloped black antemedial line and toothed black postmedial line. A dark line runs from the middle of the antemedial line to the lower edge of the reniform spot. A small pale patch is usually present at the anal angle. The hindwings are grey with a faint irregular postmedial line, dark veins, and paler shading towards the base.

Host plants

Larvae feed on Vaccinium and Kalmia polifolia.[3]

References

1. Savela, Markku. "Apharetra dentata (Grote, 1875)". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved December 25, 2017.
2. "Connecticut's Endangered, Threatened and Special Concern Species 2015". State of Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Bureau of Natural Resources. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
3. Species Sympistis dentata - Toothed Apharetra - Hodges#10055. BugGuide. Retrieved December 25, 2017.