''Panthea furcilla'' (tufted white pine caterpillar or eastern panthea) is a species of

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

of the family

Noctuidae The Noctuidae, commonly known as owlet moths, cutworms or armyworms, are a family of moths. They are considered the most controversial family in the superfamily Noctuoidea because many of the clades are constantly changing, along with the other f ...

. It is found across the boreal forest region of Canada west to the Rocky Mountains, and in the eastern parts of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, from

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, west to

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, north to

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

and

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. It has a

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

of 33–50 mm. The moth flies from June to August in a single brood in Canada, but in two or more generations in the southern United States, depending on the location. The larvae feed on eastern larch, pines, and Spruces.

Subspecies

There are two recognised subspecies: *''Panthea furcilla australis'' Anweiler, 2009 *''Panthea furcilla furcilla'' (Packard, 1864)Anweiler, G.G. (2009). Revision of the New World ''Panthea'' Hübner (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) with descriptions of 5 new species and 2 new subspecies. ''Zookeys'' 9: 97-134. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.9.157. The supposed species ''P. pallescens'' is today considered a

form Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens. Form also refers to: *Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter data ...

of ''P. furcilla'' with no

taxonomic Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

standing.

References

External links

butterfliesandmoths.orgSpecies info at Bug GuideInfo on larval stage
Pantheinae Moths of North America Taxa named by Alpheus Spring Packard Moths described in 1864 {{Pantheinae-stub