Red-lined Moth

Heliolonche pictipennis · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Noctuidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Red-lined Moth
Photo: James Weaver, CC BY

The red-lined moth has a wingspan of about 16 to 17 mm. It occurs in North America, notably in California and Arizona, and its larvae eat the plants Malacothrix glabrata and Rafinesquia neomexicana.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

Wingspan ranges from 16 to 17 mm.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

Larvae feed on the plants Malacothrix glabrata and Rafinesquia neomexicana.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 5 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, 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. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Red-lined Moth photo 2
Photo: Dawn Nelson, CC BY
Red-lined Moth photo 3
Photo: Trevor Van Loon, CC BY
Red-lined Moth photo 4
Photo: smeckert, CC BY
Red-lined Moth photo 5
Photo: Neal Kelso, 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/Heliolonche_pictipennis

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

Text written 2026-10-25 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-25.

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.