Pied Alpine Beauty

Anarta nigrolunata · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Noctuidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Pied Alpine Beauty
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0

Its native range is the same Arctic and alpine areas of the US and Canada. It was once treated as the same species as Anarta melanopa, but experts now recognize many consistent differences that separate them.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Its native range is the Arctic and alpine areas of the United States and Canada.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 8 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Colorado, New Hampshire, Wyoming, Washington, Alaska, Montana, California, Utah.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: native in North America; native in United States; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Pied Alpine Beauty photo 2
Photo: Trevor Van Loon, CC BY

Same family (Noctuidae)

Ipsilon Dart MothIpsilon Dart MothAgrotis ipsilonDamages trees, gardens or cropsFall Armyworm MothFall Armyworm MothSpodoptera frugiperdaDamages trees, gardens or cropsArmy Cutworm MothArmy Cutworm MothEuxoa auxiliarisDamages trees, gardens or cropsLarge Yellow UnderwingLarge Yellow UnderwingNoctua pronubaDamages trees, gardens or cropsSilver ΥSilver ΥAutographa gammaAmerican DaggerAmerican DaggerAcronicta americanaCan irritate skin

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarta_nigrolunata

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-26 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-26.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.