Bug FAQBarred Umber
Plagodis pulveraria · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Geometridae
Also called: American Barred Umber, American Barred Umber Moth
The barred umber moth has a wingspan of about 28 to 33 mm and forewings 17 to 19 mm long. Its forewings show a reddish tone with straight antemedian and strongly incurved post-median lines, and the median area is often darkened.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The forewings are reddish with straight antemedian and strongly incurved postmedian lines, and the median area is darkened in the typical form.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Wingspan ranges from 28 to 33 mm. Forewing length is 17 to 19 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
The moth has two generations that fly from mid-March to August.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults are on the wing from mid-March through August.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its range includes the Palearctic region and the Nearctic realm, notably Canada.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
The form ab. passetii is violaceous-grey instead of reddish-brown, with a sharply expressed median band. The form ab. marginepurpuraria is deeper red, with orange-tinged forewing median area and purple-tinged rest, and has thicker lines.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 31 of 51 states and DC. Most records: North Carolina, Massachusetts, Vermont, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Michigan, Montana.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
How can I tell barred umber apart from similar forms?
The typical form has a reddish tone with straight antemedian and strongly incurved postmedian lines; ab. passetii is violaceous-grey with a sharp median band, while ab. marginepurpuraria is deeper red with orange-tinged and purple-tinged areas and thicker lines.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Geometridae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagodis_pulveraria
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-24.