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Digital Guide to Moth Identification

Hepialidae
110017 – 0019   Sthenopis purpurascens (Packard, 1863)
             Four-spotted Ghost Moth

© Robin McLeod
Distribution: Across Canada and apparently south to Arizona along the Rockies. Several specimens collected from Apache County, AZ (Ron Wielgus, in lit., 26iv2015).
Type locality (purpurascens): Mount Washington, NH.
Type locality (semiauratus): "Great Slave Lake", Northwest Territory.
Similar Species:
  • Pinned specimens of related species. (Hint: select View by Region on the related species page.)
Synonymy: Gorgopis purpurascens Packard, 1863
Gorgopis quadriguttatus Grote, 1864
Sthenopis semiauratus Neumögen & Dyar, 1893
Taxonomic Notes: Sthenopis purpurascens (Packard, 1863): This species includes the former species 0020 - Sthenopis quadriguttatus (Grote, 1864).
References
  • Barcode of Life (BOLD) - Caution: Some specimens shown may not be sequenced. DNA barcode provides evidence of relatedness not proof of identification.
  • Grote, A.R., 1864. Descriptions of North American Lepidoptera, No. 3. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Philadelphia, 3: 73.
  • Packard, A.S., 1863. On Synthetic Types in Insects. Boston Journal of Natural History, 7: 598.
  • Packard, A.S., 1864. Synopsis of the Bombycidae of the United States. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Philadelphia, 3: 392.
  • Powell, J. A. & P. A. Opler, 2009. Moths of Western North America, Pl. 13.1f; p. 36. Book Review and ordering
  • Species Page at BugGuide.Net
  • Species Page at E. H. Strickland Museum
  • Species page at Moths of North Dakota.
Sthenopis purpurascens
© Anthony W. Thomas
Sthenopis purpurascens
© Jim Farrell
Sthenopis purpurascens
© Jason Dombroskie
Sthenopis purpurascens
© Jason Dombroskie
Sthenopis purpurascens
93mm – © Chris Grinter
Sthenopis purpurascens
© Gary Anweiler
Sthenopis purpurascens
© Gary Anweiler
Sthenopis purpurascens
CalPhotos – © Jerry Powell
Sthenopis purpurascens
LG(cc) Miss. Ent. Mus.

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