Skunk Moth
Polix coloradella
9 to 12 mm long. Forewing length 7.5-9.3 mm, rarely 6.7mm.
Adult - forewing black with white strip beginning on top of head and continuing along inner margin, bending 45 degrees near anal angle and extending almost half-way to apex.
Head: Pale yellow to yellowish-white.
Antenna: Grayish-brown, with faint paler rings.
Thorax: Gray-brown, outlined in pale yellow to yellowish-white.
Wings: Forewings long, wide at tips. Grayish-brown, slightly speckled with creamy-white. Inner margin has yellow stripe. With wings closed, stripe continues from yellow thorax edge to anal angle where it forms a crescent shape on each wing. Fringe same as wing color. Hindwings and fringe paler than forewings.
Note: In Colorado and California, the stripe down the center is faint to absent.
Legs: Dark grayish-brown.
Abdomen: Dark grayish-brown
Adult - forewing black with white strip beginning on top of head and continuing along inner margin, bending 45 degrees near anal angle and extending almost half-way to apex.
Head: Pale yellow to yellowish-white.
Antenna: Grayish-brown, with faint paler rings.
Thorax: Gray-brown, outlined in pale yellow to yellowish-white.
Wings: Forewings long, wide at tips. Grayish-brown, slightly speckled with creamy-white. Inner margin has yellow stripe. With wings closed, stripe continues from yellow thorax edge to anal angle where it forms a crescent shape on each wing. Fringe same as wing color. Hindwings and fringe paler than forewings.
Note: In Colorado and California, the stripe down the center is faint to absent.
Legs: Dark grayish-brown.
Abdomen: Dark grayish-brown