''Lambdina fiscellaria'', the mournful thorn or hemlock looper, 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

Geometridae The geometer moths are moths belonging to the family Geometridae of the insect order Lepidoptera, the moths and butterflies. Their scientific name derives from the Ancient Greek ''geo'' γεω (derivative form of or "the earth"), and ''metro ...

. It is found in North America, from the Pacific to the Atlantic coast and from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

south to

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

and

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The adult is grey to cream coloured with scalloped wing borders and resembles the oak besma. Darker line across forewings and hindwings, a second line across forewings. Area between lines may be shaded or unshaded. The

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 o ...

is about 35 mm. The moth flies from August to early October depending on the location.Sogaard, Jim. (2009) Moths and Caterpillar of the North Woods. Duluth, MN:Kollath+Stensaas, p.53. The larvae feed on hemlock,

balsam fir ''Abies balsamea'' or balsam fir is a North American fir, native to most of eastern and central Canada (Newfoundland west to central Alberta) and the northeastern United States (Minnesota east to Maine, and south in the Appalachian Mountains to ...

white spruce White spruce is a common name for several species of spruce ('' Picea'') and may refer to: * ''Picea glauca'', native to most of Canada and Alaska with limited populations in the northeastern United States * '' Picea engelmannii'', native to the ...

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

and other hardwoods.

Subspecies

There are three recognized subspecies: *''Lambdina fiscellaria fiscellaria'' – eastern hemlock looper *''Lambdina fiscellaria lugubrosa'' – western hemlock looper *''Lambdina fiscellaria somniaria'' – western oak looper or Garry oak looper File:Lambdina fiscellaria fiscellaria larva.jpg, ''Lambdina fiscellaria fiscellaria'' caterpillar File:Lambdina fiscellaria lugubrosa larva.jpg, ''Lambdina fiscellaria lugubrosa'' caterpillar File:Lambdina fiscellaria somniaria.jpg, ''Lambdina fiscellaria somniaria'' adult File:Lambdina fiscellaria somniaria larva.jpg, ''Lambdina fiscellaria somniaria'' caterpillar

References

External links

* * Ourapterygini Moths described in 1857 {{Ourapterygini-stub