Feltia subterranea (Fabricius) Venerable Dart

Pogue, Michael G., 2006, The Noctuinae (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, U. S. A., Zootaxa 1215 (1), pp. 1-95 : 31-32

22. Feltia subterranea (Fabricius) Venerable Dart (adult), Granulated Cutworm (larva)

( Fig. 27, Map 17)

Identification: Forewing length in males 12.0–18.0 mm and in females 14.0–20.0 mm. Forewing ground color is gray with light brown costal half that extends from base to reniform spot and light brown terminal area. Claviform spot is represented by an indistinct black basal dash. Orbicular and reniform spots are small, light brown, and outlined in black. Hindwing is white in male, with slightly more gray suffusion and gray veins near outer margin in female. The forewing ground color is variable and in some specimens almost entirely light brown with only a subapical gray patch. This species is easily distinguished from other species of Feltia .

Flight period: Collected from late March and late June to early November. There are two to three broods per year in the central United States and five or six further south.

Collected localities: North Carolina: Haywood Co., Mt. Sterling Trail, Purchase Knob hosue; Swain Co. , Big Cove Road site b, Big Cove Road site c; Deep Creek Ranger Station , Welch Ridge 300 ft. above Lake Fontana. Tennessee: Blount Co., Cades Cove Primitive Baptist Church; Cocke Co., Foothills Parkway 2.1 mi W Hwy. 321; Sevier Co. , Greenbrier Ranger Station , Park Headquarters. (12 specimens)

MAP 17. Collecting localities of Feltia subterranea .

Elevation range: 1480–4924 ft. (451–1501 m)

General distribution: This is a migratory species and ranges as far north as Nova Scotia and west to Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, and east Texas in the East; across the Great Plains to southeastern Wyoming and Colorado; in the West from southern Arizona and southern Nevada to as far north as San Francisco and Sacramento in California. It occurs in Bermuda, the West Indies, Mexico, Central America, and in South America as far south as Peru and Brazil ( Lafontaine 2004).

Larval hosts: This is a polyphagous species and hosts include beans ( Fabaceae ), beets ( Beta sp. , Chenopodiaceae ), cabbage ( Brassica oleracea L., Brassicaceae ), corn ( Zea mays L., Poaceae ), lettuce ( Lactuca sp. Asteraceae ), pea ( Pisum sativum L., Fabaceae ), potato ( Solanum tuberosum L., Solanaceae ), tobacco (Nicotania sp., Solanaceae ), tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum L., Solanaceae ), turnip ( Brassica rapa L., Brassicaceae ), and wheat ( Triticum aestivum L., Poaceae ) ( Lafontaine 2004).