Agnorisma badinodis (Grote)

Pogue, Michael G., 2006, The Noctuinae (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, U. S. A., Zootaxa 1215 (1), pp. 1-95 : 39-40

7. Agnorisma badinodis (Grote)

( Fig. 39, Map 25)

Identification: Forewing length 16.0–19.0 mm. Agnorisma badinodis has a distinct black prothoracic collar. Forewing ground color is brown with a dark brown subterminal area. Orbicular and reniform spots are faint, slightly darker than ground color and partially outlined in white. A rectangular patch concolorous with the subterminal area lies between the orbicular and reniform spots. Antemedial line is tan bordered by a darker distal line, there is a small patch of black scales proximal to orbicular spot, and postmedial line is tan bordered by a proximal line concolorous with subterminal area and curved from costa to posterior margin. Hindwing is brown with a faint discal spot.

Flight period: Collected from mid­August to early November.

Collected localities: North Carolina: Haywood Co., Purchase Knob, Purchase Knob house, Purchase house 1 mi SE off Purchase Road ; Swain Co. , Big Cove Road site b, Big Cove Road site c, Big Cove Road site p, Big Cove Road site w, Oconaluftee Staff Housing , Smokemont . Tennessee: Blount Co., Tremont, Cades Cove Old Field ATBI Plot ; Cocke Co. , Cosby campground area, Cosby Ranger Station , Foothills Parkway ; Sevier Co. , Greenbrier Ranger Station , Park Headquarters. (55 specimens)

MAP 25. Collecting localities of Agnorisma badinodis .

Elevation range: 1320–4924 ft. (402–1501 m).

General distribution: This species is distributed from southern Quebec and Ontario west to North Dakota and south to Texas, Mississippi, and South Carolina ( Lafontaine 1998).

Larval hosts: Crumb (1956) listed curly dock ( Rumex cripsus L., Polygonaceae ) and chickweed ( Cerastium sp. , Caryophyllaceae ) as preferred hosts. Others hosts listed by Crumb include clover ( Trifolium sp. , Fabaceae ), hedgemustard ( Sisymbrium officinale (L.) Scop., Brassicaceae ), white heath aster ( Symphyotrichum ericoides (L.) Nesom, Asteraceae ), and tobacco (Nicotania sp., Solanaceae ).