The wingspan is 25–39mm. Adults are on wing from June to September. There is one generation per year.
The larvae feed on wide range of woody and herbaceous plants, including asparagus, aster, bean, broomrape, cherry, clover, dogbane, goldenrod, grasses, milkweed, mustard, pea, pokeweed, raspberry, tobacco, violet, willow and yarrow. Preferred hosts include various slender grasses, including Muhlenbergia and Agrostis.
Acronicta is a genus of noctuid moths containing about 150 species distributed mainly in the temperate Holarctic, with some in adjacent subtropical regions. The genus was erected by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. Caterpillars of most Acronicta species are unmistakable, with brightly colored hairy spikes, and often feed quite visibly on common foliate trees. The hairy spikes may contain poison, which cause itchy, painful, swollen rash in humans on contact. The larva of the smeared dagger moth is unusually hairy even for this genus. Acronicta species are generally known as dagger moths, as most have one or more black dagger-shaped markings on their forewing uppersides. But some species have a conspicuous dark ring marking instead.
Hemaris thysbe, the hummingbird clearwing, is a moth of the family Sphingidae (hawkmoths). Coloration varies between individuals, but typically the moth is olive green and burgundy on its back, and white or yellow and burgundy on the underside. Its wings are transparent with a reddish-brown border. It has light-colored legs, which combined with the lack of striping on the underside is diagnostic. Beating its wings rapidly, H. thysbe hovers to collect nectar from a variety of flowers. The combination of its appearance and its behavior commonly leads to it being confused with a hummingbird or bumblebee.
Chytolita is a monotypic litter moth genus of the family Erebidae erected by Augustus Radcliffe Grote in 1873. Its only species, Chytolita morbidalis, the morbid owlet moth or morbid owlet, was first described by Achille Guenée in 1854. It is found in large parts of North America, from coast to coast in the north and south to North Carolina, Texas and Florida in the west. The habitat consists of deciduous woods and edges.
Rivula propinqualis, the spotted grass moth or yellow snout-moth, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Achille Guenée in 1854. It is found throughout eastern North America from southern Canada southward to Florida and Texas and westward in the north to British Columbia and Washington. In North Carolina it is found from the Appalachian Mountains to the Atlantic coast.
Abagrotis alternata, the greater red dart or mottled gray cutworm, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Augustus Radcliffe Grote in 1865. It is found in eastern North America, from New Brunswick west across southern Canada to western Alberta, south to Arizona, New Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico.
Abagrotis brunneipennis, the Yankee dart, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Augustus Radcliffe Grote in 1875. It is found in North America from Newfoundland west to Vancouver Island, south to west central Oregon, Utah, Colorado and North Carolina.
Abagrotis orbis, the well-marked cutworm or Barnes' climbing cutworm, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Augustus Radcliffe Grote in 1876. It is in southwestern North America, extending eastward across the plains and with a large disjunct population in dune habitats in the southern Great Lakes area. It extends into western Canada only in the southern interior of British Columbia and southern Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Catocala junctura, the joined underwing or Stretch's underwing, is a moth in the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Francis Walker in 1858. It is found throughout temperate North America, ranging from New York and Pennsylvania west to Montana, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arizona, and into Texas, and north to southern Illinois, extreme southern Alberta and Saskatchewan; it has also been recorded west of the Rocky Mountains from California and south-eastern British Columbia. It is typically found near water, where the food plants of its caterpillar larvae grow plentifully.
Alypia ridingsii, the mountain forester or Ridings' forester, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Augustus Radcliffe Grote in 1864. It is found in North America as far east as the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. It is also found in Arizona, Utah, all of California and northward into Oregon, Idaho, Washington, British Columbia and Alaska
Apamea niveivenosa, the snowy-veined apamea, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Augustus Radcliffe Grote in 1879. It is native to northern North America, where it can be found across Canada and south to California.
Apamea plutonia, the dusky Quaker or dusky apamea, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Augustus Radcliffe Grote in 1883. It is native to northern North America, where it occurs across the boreal regions, with some occurrences from as far south as New Mexico and Pennsylvania.
Syngrapha octoscripta, the figure-eight looper moth or dusky silver Y, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Augustus Radcliffe Grote in 1874. It is found in North America from coast to coast in most of Canada south in the east to northern Pennsylvania, Ohio, and the Great Lakes states.
Schinia villosa, the little dark gem, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Augustus Radcliffe Grote in 1864. In North America, it is mostly a western mountain species, however it has also been found across the plains eastward across Alberta and Saskatchewan to southern Manitoba. To the west it is found up to the coast ranges of Washington and British Columbia, south to Arizona.
Lophocampa maculata, the Yellow-spotted tussock moth, mottled tiger or spotted halisidota, is a moth of the family Erebidae and the tribe Arctiini, the tiger moths. The species was first described by Thaddeus William Harris in 1841. It is found across Canada, the western parts of the United States, south in the Appalachians to South Carolina and Kentucky. They are also found in Southeastern Alaska.
Acronicta insita, the large gray dagger or fingered dagger, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Augustus Radcliffe Grote in 1874. It is found from Newfoundland west to the Pacific coast and Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, south to North Carolina and Colorado.
Protolampra brunneicollis, the brown-collared dart, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Augustus Radcliffe Grote in 1864. It is found in eastern North America from New Brunswick to Alberta in southern Canada, and in the United States from Maine to North Carolina and Tennessee west to Mississippi, north to Minnesota, with scattered records in the west from North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana.
Xestia normaniana, or Norman's dart, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Augustus Radcliffe Grote in 1874. It is found in North America from Nova Scotia across southern and central Canada to Alberta. In the eastern United States it ranges from Maine to eastern Minnesota, and south along the Appalachians to western North Carolina. It has recently been recorded from Tennessee.
Macrochilo bivittata, the two-striped snout-moth, is a litter moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Augustus Radcliffe Grote in 1877. It is found from the Atlantic coast west across the parklands and southern boreal forest of North America to central Alberta, south to Massachusetts and Ohio.
Phalaenostola larentioides, the black-banded owlet, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Augustus Radcliffe Grote in 1873. It is found in North America from New Brunswick and Wisconsin to Maine, south to Florida and Texas, west to Ontario.
Spargaloma is a monotypic moth genus in the family Erebidae. Its only species is Spargaloma sexpunctata, the six-spotted gray. Both the genus and species were first described by Augustus Radcliffe Grote in 1873. It is found from coast to coast in lower Canada south in the east to Florida, Mississippi and Arkansas, in the west to California.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
