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Species Enargia decolor - Pale Enargia - Hodges#9549

Moth - Enargia decolor Owlet_pale enargia - Enargia decolor 9549 – Enargia decolor – Pale Enargia - Enargia decolor Noctuidae: Enargia decolor - Enargia decolor Noctuidae: Enargia decolor - Enargia decolor Unknown Moth 6 - Enargia decolor Enargia decolor Enargia infumata - Enargia decolor
Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily Noctuoidea (Owlet Moths and kin)
Family Noctuidae (Owlet Moths)
Subfamily Noctuinae (Cutworm or Dart Moths)
Tribe Xylenini
Subtribe Cosmiina
Genus Enargia
Species decolor (Pale Enargia - Hodges#9549)
Hodges Number
9549
Other Common Names
Aspen Twoleaf Tier (larva)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Enargia decolor (Walker, 1858)
Mythimna decolor Walker, 1858
* phylogenetic sequence #932674
Size
Wingspan 30-40 mm.
Larva to 32 mm (Comstock, 1937).
Pupa 19 mm (Comstock, 1937).
Identification
Adult: forewing yellowish with light reddish-brown speckling; AM and PM lines brown, distinct; AM line with sharp angle in middle; orbicular and reniform spots solid yellowish; no dark spot at lower end of reniform spot (a diagnostic feature); brown band on either side of reniform spot forms a shallow "V" in median area; hindwing cream-colored with faint grayish subterminal band.
Range
British Columbia to Nova Scotia, south in the east to Ohio, south in the west to California.
Habitat
Woodlands, parks, river flood plains where hostplants grow.
Season
Adults fly from July to September. Larvae present from May to August.
Food
Larvae feed on leaves of poplar (Populus spp.). Comstock found them feeding on quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) in the Arizona mountains.
Life Cycle
Newly-hatched larvae begin feeding on inner side of rolled-up leaf, then feed on outside; older larvae construct flattened cases made from two leaves bound together with silk webbing (hence the name Twoleaf Tier); fully mature larvae fall to the ground and pupate; overwinters as an egg; one generation per year.
Larva; larva; adult
See Also
Smoked Sallow (Enargia infumata) forewing reniform spot has dark spot at lower end, lacking in E. decolor; Lesser Eyed Sallow (E. mephisto) forewing has indistinct markings, is less yellow/more brown, and has dark spot at lower end of reniform spot
Print References
Comstock, J. A. 1937. Miscellaneous notes on western lepidoptera. Bull. Southern California Acad. Sci. 36(1): 21, pl.7-8
Powell, J. A. & P. A. Opler 2009. Moths of Western North America. pl.54.29m, p.300 (1)
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group - species page
distribution in Canada; list of provinces of occurrence (U. of Alberta, using CBIF data)
Works Cited
1.Moths of Western North America
Powell and Opler. 2009. UC Press.