Phytometra rhodarialis
Encyclopedia
The Pink-border Yellow (Phytometra rhodarialis) is a moth
of the Noctuidae
family. It is found from Missouri
, southern Ontario
, and New Hampshire
, south to Florida
and Texas
, possibly only as stray northward.
The wingspan
is about 20 mm. There are two or more generations in Ohio and New Jersey and more generations southward.
The larvae feed on Polygala
species. Larvae have been reared on Polygala lutea and Polygala mariana. They fed on flowers and chewed away the parenchyma and other green surface tissues of the square stems but largely ignored leaves.
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 Noctuidae
Noctuidae
The Noctuidae or owlet moths are a family of robustly-built moths that includes more than 35,000 known species out of possibly 100,000 total, in more than 4,200 genera. They constitute the largest family in the Lepidoptera....
family. It is found from Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, southern Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, and New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, south 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...
and 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...
, possibly only as stray northward.
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 about 20 mm. There are two or more generations in Ohio and New Jersey and more generations southward.
The larvae feed on Polygala
Polygala
Polygala is a genus of about 500 species of flowering plants belonging to the family Polygalaceae, commonly known as milkwort or snakeroot...
species. Larvae have been reared on Polygala lutea and Polygala mariana. They fed on flowers and chewed away the parenchyma and other green surface tissues of the square stems but largely ignored leaves.