Google
WWW MPG website only

Digital Guide to Moth Identification

Noctuidae
931227 – 8942   Syngrapha rectangula (Kirby, 1837)
             Salt-and-Pepper Looper

© Libby & Rick Avis
Distribution: Caution: A single range map dot for a Canadian province may represent records without specific location data.
Similar Species:
  • Syngrapha abstrusa, alias, cryptica and rectangula cannot be reliably separated using DNA barcoding, PLoS ONE 12(6): e0178548; Suppl. Table S8. Examiantion of genitalia is usually required. Rectangula has a West Coast dark form similar to alias. In Maine and the Maritime Provinces, specimens thought to be a dark form of rectangula have proven to be cryptica. "The inland form [of cryptica] has brown shades in the forewing and the silvery areas, especially in the basal area, have a definite greenish tone, so they are relatively easy to pick out - especially after you've seen a real one in the flesh." - Chris Schmidt & Don Lafonataine (pers. comm., 03/5/2018)
  • Pinned specimens of related species. (Hint: select View by Region on the related species page.)
Synonymy: Plusia rectangula Kirby, 1837
Syngrapha demaculata Strand, 1917
Plusia mortuorum Guenée, 1852
Autographa nargenta Ottolengui, 1919
References
  • Barcode of Life (BOLD) - Caution: Some specimens shown may not be sequenced. DNA barcode provides evidence of relatedness not proof of identification.
  • Lafontaine, J. D. & R. W. Poole, 1991. Moths of America North of Mexico, Fascicle 25.1: p. 116; pl. 3.39-41. order or free PDF
  • Species Page at BugGuide.Net
  • Species Page at E. H. Strickland Museum
  • Species Page at Mass Moths
  • Species Page at Pacific Northwest Moths
  • Zahiri R., J.D. Lafontaine, B.C. Schmidt, J.R. deWaard, E.V. Zakharov, P.D.N. Hebert, 2017. Probing planetary biodiversity with DNA barcodes: The Noctuoidea of North America. PLoS ONE, 12(6): e0178548.
Syngrapha rectangula
© John Davis
Syngrapha rectangula
© David Reed
Syngrapha rectangula
© Jason Dombroskie
Syngrapha rectangula
© Gary Anweiler
Syngrapha rectangula
31mm – © Jim Vargo
Syngrapha rectangula
© Canadian National Collection LG


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