Red-lined Panopoda (8587)

Panopoda rufimargo

Family Erebidae, subfamily Eulepidotinae
Photograph copyright by Tony Leukering

29 May 2012

Near Belleplain

CMMP block E10
Distribution map

The moth family Erebidae is a large and fairly varied one, split into a number of subfamilies, many of which are represented in Cape May County.  A couple of those subfamilies are fairly widely known, even if for only a species or two, such as  Gypsy Moth (subfamily Lymantriinae) and Isabella Tiger Moth (subfamily Arctiinae). While many of us have heard of the former and know of its devastation of local oak forests, most may never have heard of the latter, though they're undoubtedly seen  many of them, at least in the larval form, known as Wooly Bear. But, I have no picture of either moth, so our introduction into the family will be carried by a poorly-known species, the Red-lined Panopoda. Like the subject species, many groups within the Erebidae are delta-shaped as adults -- that is, quite triangular in shape, and nearly equilateral triangular at that, so the family is a good place to start down the ID-process road when encountering such a beast.

However, the primary focus of this essay is common names. As long as there have been moth guides written that were aimed at least partly at the layman, there have been attempts to coin common names for the various species. When some aspect of a particular species' ecology or behavior was known, it was utilized in naming it, as for the "Waterlily Borer" and the "Clover Looper." Due at least in part to our extensive lack of knowledge about life histories and behaviors of most moth species, even in our relatively well-studied part of the world, such name coiners have taken a couple other tacks when traveling that road. One, and the one that I appreciate, is the tack of whimsy, naming species with monikers such as "The Infant," "The Betrothed," and "The Neighbor." However, as for our subject species, for most, they simply translated the latinized term used for the scientific name as directly as they could manage. For many of those, they did not even bother to translate the genus name, simply using it as is for the group name for that/those species of moth(s).

This tack results in a large number of moth species with common or "English" names made of words that are not, in fact, English. With the long-anticipated publication of the new Peterson guide to the moths of northeastern North America, I had hoped that the authors would attempt to avoid that last naming tack, because laymen are generally turned off by such. To no avail. So until someone grabs that bull by the horns, we are stuck with such mouthfuls as "Fernald's Helcystogramma," "Sooty Lipocosmodes," "Crowned Phlyctaenia," and, of course, "Red-lined Panopoda!"