Insects of Iowa

Lepidoptera

Moths

 

The pictures that are included when you link to the families will include the Hodges reference number. The Hodges number is also listed below with the families. The Hodges numbers come from a report published in 1984 by Ronald Hodges where he assigned a number to all known moth species in North America north of Mexico. Due to the reorganizing of the Noctuidae, some of the numbers are out of sequence. I am also including for the Noctuoidea, the reference number from Lafontaine and Schmidt's Annotated checklist of the Noctuoidea of North America north of Mexico, published in March 2010. This is a 93xxxx and it shows the order in the taxonomy of the Noctuoidea. The size of the moth will be next to the name under the photo. I am redoing the pictures and not including any data on the photo. Some species will have multiple pictures because I have included both male and female and also photos to show different patterns or coloration. I have also included photos from my collection and Frank's for clarification. I have also included PDFs of the pictures in case someone wants to download and print them. I have included some species that I have collected from Kentucky, Minnesota and Michigan.

If you have pictures of moths and beetles that you would like to have identified, send a jpg attached to an email. Try to size the pictures to a 4 x 6 at 200 dpi. It may take some time to ID the pictures, but I will send a reply to let you know that I have received the picture. Please include state, county, GPS coordinates if possible, otherwise something to define location.

I have included the collection data for specimens that Frank Olsen, Keith Summerville and myself have in our collections. I am also adding information from Bugguide. Since 2007 I have been adding other collector and photographer information as I get it. Also is a list of the species that we have found in Iowa.

I am adding links on the family pages that will take you to range maps.These links will show what counties in Iowa that the species has been collected or photographed. I am only including range maps for Iowa. If a species does not have a range map then it was collected in a state other than Iowa.

Moth Family Taxonomy - Shows suborders, superfamilies and families.

Moth Family Taxonomy - Shows suborders, superfamilies, families, subfamilies and tribes

Moth Family Page - Links to Family Pages

Moth List of Iowa in Hodges number order

To go to the species page, click on the link in the Hodges number field.

Table 1 - 3 - 3638

Table 2 - 3643 - 6348

Table 3 - 6353 - 8131

Table 4 - 8133 - 9254

Table 5 - 9257 - 11182

Moth List of Iowa in Genus Species order

To go to the species page, click on the link in the Hodges number field.

Table 1 - Abagrotis alternata to Cepphis armataria

Table 2 - Cerastis tenebrifera - Eustixia pupula

Table 3 - Eutrapela clemataria - Melanomma auricinctaria

Table 4 - Melittia cucurbitae - Probole alienaria

Table 5 - Probole amicaria - Zenophleps lignicolorata

Moth Collection Data   - Here you will find the collection data that we have for the moths we have found in Iowa. Also if you need a database program for tracking your sightings and data, go to http://viceroy.eeb.uconn.edu/biota/ . I have used BIOTA since 2001 when I started to keep track of specimens and find it easy to use. I currently have over 30000 records in my database. Updated Feb 2014.

Moth List Hodges Number -PDF  - This is a PDF list in Hodges number order that is printable for your use. Updated Feb 2014

Moth List Genus Species -PDF  - This is a PDF list in Genus Species order that is printable for your use. Updated Feb 2014

County Distribution Lists - Here you will find lists of species collected by county in Iowa. Updated Feb 2014

Species Distribution Maps - Here you will find a PDF file that shows range maps for species that we have collected in Iowa. The maps use Hodges numbers as the reference. You can go to the tables above to cross reference to the Genus/Species. Updated Feb 2014

Flight Dates - This is a PDF list of flight dates of the moths. Updated Feb 2013

Moth Life Cycles - A list of life cycles showing the life stages of several moths

Locations - PDF - List of locations that have records. Updated Feb. 2014