Nemoria bistriaria Hubner, 1818. [7046]

Nemoria bistriaria, green summer form

Nemoria bistriaria, brown spring form

Nemoria bistriaria is perhaps the most widespread Nemoria species in the east, found in eastern forests from Mississippi to Quebec and as far west as Illinois, Missouri and Texas. It is distinctive in its abdominal markings, the presence of a red terminal line on the wings with checkered pink fringe, and the presence of a small white band on the front of a rust red foretibia. The white am and pm lines vary in strength and clarity among specimens, and in some specimens the am line is very faint. In general, the lines are fairly thin compared to some of the Western species of the genus. Nemoria bistriaria is occasionally confused with Nemoria lixaria, which overlaps a large portion of its southern range. Nemoria lixaria never occurs in a brown form, and often has brighter, stronger red markings on the wing margins.Nemoria bistriaria occurs in a seasonal brown form where the green color of the wings is entirely replaced by a light coffee color. In some areas, the brown form appears to represent the majority or the entirety of the first brood of adults to eclose.
Larvae of Nemoria bistriaria are polyphagous and in form are typical for the group of Nemoria species that includes the Eastern N. bifilata and N. rubrifrontaria and the Western N. caerulescens and N. festaria. For images of Nemoria bistriaria eggs and larvae, click here. 

Nemoria bistriaria, adult female, green form at left, brown spring form at right.

Northern subspecies Nemoria bistriaria siccifolia, collected Addison Co., VT.

Nemoria bistriaria rubromarginaria, subspecies from Packard 1876. This adult collected and determined by JG Franclemont from Ithaca, NY, 08 May 1939. Specimen collection of California Academy of Sciences.