Ghost-moth
Guides
Gazoryctra confusus
Gazoryctra confusus is a ghost moth in the family Hepialidae, one of ten North American species in the genus. The species is known from the United States and occurs in forested regions. Like other hepialid moths, adults are believed to have reduced mouthparts and do not feed; larvae are thought to feed on roots or decaying organic matter.
Gazoryctra novigannus
Smooth Ghost Moth
Gazoryctra novigannus, commonly known as the Smooth Ghost Moth, is a species of ghost moth in the family Hepialidae. It was first described by William Barnes and Foster Hendrickson Benjamin in 1926. The species occurs across western and central North America, from Quebec westward to the Rocky Mountains and south to Arizona. As with other hepialid moths, adults are non-feeding and larvae are presumed to feed on roots or decaying organic matter, though specific biological details remain poorly documented.
Gazoryctra pulcher
Gazoryctra pulcher is a moth species in the family Hepialidae, a group commonly known as ghost moths or swift moths. It is known from the southwestern United States, with records from Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. The species was described by Augustus Radcliffe Grote in 1865. Like other hepialid moths, it likely exhibits primitive moth characteristics including reduced mouthparts in adults.
Gazoryctra roseicaput
Gazoryctra roseicaput is a hepialid moth described in 1893 from western North American mountain regions. Adults are medium-small with distinctive dull red-brown forewings marked by silvery-white spots. The species has a narrow seasonal flight period in late summer.
Gazoryctra sciophanes
Gazoryctra sciophanes is a hepialid moth described by Ferguson in 1979. It belongs to a genus of 10 North American species distributed from Alaska to the southern Appalachians and southern Rocky Mountains. The species has a wingspan of approximately 35–38 mm. Its range includes North Carolina and Tennessee, with the genus notably absent from much of the southern-central United States despite apparently suitable forested habitat.
Hepialoidea
Ghost Moths, Swift Moths
Hepialoidea is a superfamily of moths comprising over 650 species in approximately 70 genera, commonly known as ghost moths and swift moths. The group is characterized by primitive morphological features including a regressed haustellum (reduced proboscis), short antennae, and distinctive wing venation with a displaced Rs3 vein. Hepialoidea has a cosmopolitan distribution except for Madagascar and Antarctica, with greatest diversity in the Southern Hemisphere, particularly southern South America, southern Africa, and the Australian region. The superfamily includes several families, with Hepialidae being the most species-rich; fossil evidence suggests an origin in the mid-Jurassic with Hepialidae diverging by the mid-Cretaceous approximately 95 million years ago.
Korscheltellus
conifer swift (for K. gracilis), common swift (for K. lupulina)
Korscheltellus is a genus of ghost moths (Hepialidae) containing two widespread species. Korscheltellus lupulina, the common swift, occurs across Europe. Korscheltellus gracilis, the conifer swift, ranges through Canada and the eastern United States. The genus was established by Börner in 1920 and has been subject to taxonomic revision, including the reinstatement of Korscheltellus castillanus as a distinct species.
Korscheltellus gracilis
Conifer Swift Moth
Korscheltellus gracilis, the Conifer Swift Moth, is a hepialid moth native to eastern and central North America. Adults are active at dusk and exhibit a primitive mating system where males form aerial lek swarms to attract females. Larvae are root-feeders primarily associated with coniferous trees, particularly balsam fir and red spruce, though they can survive on deciduous hosts. The species is considered a forest pest due to larval damage to tree roots and associated pathogen entry points.
Phymatopus
swift moths, ghost moths
Phymatopus is a genus of swift moths in the family Hepialidae, erected by Wallengren in 1869. The genus occurs across Eurasia and western North America, with species distinguished primarily by male genitalia morphology and forewing pattern variation. Members lack tibial spurs, proboscis, frenulum, and have very short antennae. The genus exhibits an unusual mating system where males release attractants to draw females, reversing the ancestral hepialid condition.
Phymatopus hectoides
Orange-Lined Ghost Moth
Phymatopus hectoides is a small ghost moth in the family Hepialidae, described by Boisduval in 1868. It occurs in the western United States, where adults are active in late spring and summer. The larvae are known to feed on a diverse range of host plants, boring into shoots and roots.
Sthenopis pretiosus
Gold-spotted Ghost Moth
Sthenopis pretiosus is a ghost moth in the family Hepialidae with a transcontinental distribution spanning South and North America. The species was described multiple times under different names between 1856 and 1906 before taxonomic revision in 2015 consolidated these into a single species. It is characterized by a wingspan of 60–70 mm and distinctive gold-spotted patterning. The larval stage feeds on ferns in the genera Athyrium, Dryopteris, and Matteuccia.