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Digital Guide to Moth Identification

Noctuidae
931822 – 10066   Sympistis fifia (Dyar, 1904)

© Chris Kotzer
Distribution: CNC records from Canada: BC; USA: WA, OR, CA, NV, UT, CO, MT - 11/21/2018
Similar Species:
  • Sympistis badistriga - white prothoracic collar compared to the almost black thorax; streakier wings; wider streaks from the wing base and in the cell from the orbicular spot to the subterminal area; whiter hind wings in both males and females - Don Lafontaine (pers. comm. 11/21/2018).
  • Sympistis tenuistriga - separated from badistriga by differences in the ♂ vesica (everted), ♀ bursa and DNA barcode - Don Lafontaine (pers. comm. 6/6/2017); paler brown prothoracic collar than the color of the thorax with some white tips to the scales in some and the thorax is mainly brown with black adjacent to the collar and on the sides. The forewing is a more even brown or gray with less streaking on the ground color and the black streaks are thinner - Don Lafontaine (pers. comm. 11/21/2018).
  • Sympistis fifia - overall more blotchy look with a mostly gray collar and thorax, gray wings, sometimes tinged with brown frequently with dark shading in the lower part of the medial area, which is more constricted than the other two species; fine black streaks in the subterminal; basal and subapical streaks are less sharply defined than the other species; the hind wing is darker sex for sex that either badistriga or tenuistriga - Don Lafontaine (pers. comm. 11/21/2018).
  • Sympistis rayata - records from Texas only; superficially identical to badistriga but speperable by DNA barcode - Don Lafontaine (pers. comm. 11/26/2018).
  • Pinned specimens of related species. (Hint: select View by Region on the related species page.)
Synonymy:
  • fifia (Dyar, 1904) (Homohadena) - MONA 1983: 10066
  • Taxonomic Notes: Sympistis fifia: Formerly placed in the genus Homohadena.
    References
    Sympistis fifia
    © Marius V. Aurelian
    Sympistis fifia
    © Chris Kotzer
    Sympistis fifia
    DNA - © Jim Moore
    Sympistis fifia
    DNA - © Jim Moore
    Sympistis fifia
    33mm – © Canadian National Collection
    Sympistis fifia
    33mm – © Canadian National Collection
    Sympistis fifia
    DNA - LG – © Jim Moore
    Sympistis fifia
    LG – © Jim Troubridge
    Sympistis fifia
    30mm – © Jim Vargo

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