Psychomorpha
genus of insects
Psychomorpha is a monotypic genus of moths in the family Noctuidae erected by Thaddeus William Harris in 1839. Its only species, Psychomorpha epimenis, the grapevine epimenis, was first described by Dru Drury in 1782. It is found in eastern North America as far west as the Oklahoma Panhandle.
Description
The wings and body are black with a large white forewing patch and a red hindwing patch. The wingspan ranges from 2.2 to 2.7 cm.
Subspecies
Psychomorpha epimenis epimenis
Psychomorpha epimenis euryrhoda (Florida) - has a red hindwing patch that stretches almost to the base of the wing
Habitat
This moth may be encountered in woodlands, woodland edges, and hedgerows.
Flight
The grapevine epimenis is a spring moth which may be found from March to early May.
Life cycle
The larva is black with transverse white stripes. The head, part of the thorax, the area near the end of the abdomen, and the prolegs are a reddish orange. The larva makes a leaf shelter in new foliage by taking the leaf edges and pulling them upward and then tying them together with silk.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Psychomorpha” as genus of insects. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as genus of insects. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7256439. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1839 and 1782.
Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Psychomorpha” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.