''Xestia elimata'', the southern variable dart or variable climbing caterpillar, is a

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 ...

. The species was first described by Achille Guenée in 1852. It is found in the eastern part of North America, including Georgia,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

. It is part of the ''elimata'' species group. Three species in this group (''

Xestia praevia ''Xestia praevia'' is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in Canada (New Brunswick, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia) south to California. It is part of the ''elimata'' species group. Three of the species in th ...

'', ''Xestia elimata'' and ''

Xestia badicollis ''Xestia badicollis'', the northern variable dart, northern conifer dart or white pine cutworm when referring to the larval stage, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Augustus Radcliffe Grote in 1873. It is found ...

'') have no significant difference in their genitals nor DNA, suggesting they may be a single species. This

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 ...

is about 42 mm. The moth flies from September to October depending on the location. There is one generation per year. The

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

feeds on '' Pinus'' species, including pitch, red and other hard pines.

References

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"Variable Climbing Caterpillar (''Xestia elimata'')"
''BugwoodWiki''. Retrieved March 24, 2020. Xestia Moths of North America {{Xestia-stub