MPG (species pages only) MPG (entire website) Entire Web

Digital Guide to Moth Identification

Noctuidae 933589 – 10942.1   Xestia dolosa Franclemont, 1980              Greater Black-letter Dart

Photographs are the copyrighted property of each photographer listed. Contact individual photographers for permission to use for any purpose.

© Mark Dreiling - DNA © David Reed Large Map & Chart Report Errors About Maps

Distribution: Suggested by Heppner as a species straying into, but not breeding in, Florida. Larva and Host Plants: Host familiy: Adoxaceae[Caprifoliaceae] Alliaceae[Liliaceae] Apiaceae Amaranthaceae[Chenopodiaceae] Asteraceae Boraginaceae Brassicaceae Campanulaceae Caryophyllaceae Ericaceae Fabaceae Grossulariaceae Lamiaceae Li..  Host genera: Acer Allium Apium Aronia[=Photinia] Avena Beta Brassica Cichorium Cirsium Comptonia Daucus Helianthus Hordeum Lactuca Lamium Linum Lobelia Malus Medicago Mentha Myosotis Nicotiana Pisum Plantago Primu...  Notes: wide variety of trees, crops & low plants (Leckie & Beadle 2018); grasses, forbes, low0growing plants & some woodies (Wagner et al 2011).  (Shropshire & Douglas 2025) Similar Species: Pinned specimens of related species. (Hint: select View by Region on the related species page.) Synonymy: dolosa Franclemont, 1980 (Xestia) - MONA 1983: 10942.1 Taxonomic Notes: Xestia dolosa: Reported from Texas by Knudson and Bordelon (2004).

References (Caution: DNA barcoding at BOLD provides evidence of relatedness, not proof of identification; some BOLD specimens shown may not be sequenced.)

Barcode of Life (BOLD) - Caution: Identifications often erroneous; DNA barcode provides evidence of relatedness, not proof of identification; many specimens not sequenced. Lafontaine, J. D., 1998. Moths of America North of Mexico, Fascicle 27.3: p. 134; pl. 3.30-31. order or free PDF Shropshire, K.J. & D.W. Tallamy, 2025. Lepidoptera of North America, north of Mexico: an annotated list containing geographic ranges and host-plant records. ZooKeys, 1261: 101-113; Suppl. 1. (PDF or read online) Species Page at Block Island Moths Species Page at BugGuide.Net Species Page at Mass Moths Species Page at iNaturalist

© Nolie Schneider © Hugh McGuinness - X. dolosa © John Davis © Nolie Schneider © Hugh McGuinness - X. dolosa © Hugh McGuinness - X. c-nigrum © Hugh McGuinness - X. c-nigrum © John Himmelman © Jim McClarin © Tim Dyson - m.

LG – © Jim Troubridge 42mm – © Jim Vargo

© Betsy Higgins

Moth Photographers Group  at the  Mississippi Entomological Museum  at the  Mississippi State University

Send suggestions, or submit photographs to Webmaster — Moth Photographers Group

Database design and scripting support provided by Mike Boone