Iridopsis ephyraria
Encyclopedia
The Pale-winged Gray is a moth
of the Geometridae family. It is found in the United States
and southern Canada
east of the Rocky Mountains
, from New Brunswick
to Florida
, west to Texas
and north to Alberta
.
The wingspan
is 23-28 mm. The wings are whitish-gray with variable overlay of yellowish-brown and darker gray. The lines are black. The postmedial line has a rounded bulge near the forewing costa. There are four black spots along the costa. The discal spots are large and hollow on all wings.
Adults are on wing from June to September.
The larvae feed on a wide range of woody plants Fraxinus, Abies balsamea, Betula, Prunus virginiana, Tsuga canadensis, Ulmus, Ribes uva-crispa, Acer and Salix species. The larvae are light brown and mimic twigs. The head is flat-faced, mottled with tan, white, black and occasionally pink. There are often black spots forming a dark blotch to either side of the triangle.
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
of the Geometridae family. It is found in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and southern Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
east of the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
, from New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
to Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, west to Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and north to Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
.
The wingspan
Wingspan
The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...
is 23-28 mm. The wings are whitish-gray with variable overlay of yellowish-brown and darker gray. The lines are black. The postmedial line has a rounded bulge near the forewing costa. There are four black spots along the costa. The discal spots are large and hollow on all wings.
Adults are on wing from June to September.
The larvae feed on a wide range of woody plants Fraxinus, Abies balsamea, Betula, Prunus virginiana, Tsuga canadensis, Ulmus, Ribes uva-crispa, Acer and Salix species. The larvae are light brown and mimic twigs. The head is flat-faced, mottled with tan, white, black and occasionally pink. There are often black spots forming a dark blotch to either side of the triangle.