bio.wikisort.org - Animal

Stephens' gem or the bilobed looper (Megalographa biloba) is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is widely distributed from the southern parts of the United States, south through Central America and South America to Argentina. As a seasonal migrant it occurs even farther north into the northern parts of the United States and southern Canada. Here it usually produces one or two generations each summer, but rarely survives the winter this far north. It also occurs in the Hawaiian Islands but it is unknown if the species occurs there naturally or was introduced. It has also been recorded in Great Britain, where it is either a rare migrant or introduced by travel on ships crossing the Atlantic.

Megalographa biloba
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Hexapoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Noctuidae
Genus:	Megalographa
Species:	M. biloba
Binomial name
Megalographa biloba (Stephens, 1830)
Synonyms
Plusia biloba Stephens, 1830 Autographa biloba (Stephens, 1830)

The wingspan is 38–44 mm.

It is sometimes considered a pest on cultivated lettuce.

External links

• A review of the genus Megalographa Lafontaine and Poole (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Plusiinae) with the description of a new species from Costa Rica
• UKmoths

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