HomeGuideID RequestRecentFrassForumsDonateHelp

Clickable Guide

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Registration is open for the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2023

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

Photos of insects and people from the 2019 gathering in Louisiana, July 25-27

Photos of insects and people from the 2018 gathering in Virginia, July 27-29

Previous events

TaxonomyBrowse

Info

ImagesLinksBooksData

Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Owlet Moths and kin (Noctuoidea) » Owlet Moths (Noctuidae) » Acronictinae » Dagger Moths (Acronicta) » Hesitant Dagger - Hodges#9244 (Acronicta modica)

Species Acronicta modica - Hesitant Dagger - Hodges#9244

Classification · Hodges Number · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Size · Identification · Range · Season · Food · Life Cycle · See Also · Internet References

Acronicta haesitata - Hesitant Dagger - Acronicta modica

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 Acronictinae

Genus Acronicta (Dagger Moths)

Species modica (Hesitant Dagger - Hodges#9244)

Hodges Number

9244

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Acronicta modica (Walker, 1856)

Acronicta haesitata (Grote, 1882)

Size

wingspan 30-43 mm

Identification

Adult: forewing medium gray with AM and PM line usually conspicuously double; basal dash thick but usually not touching small blackish blotch at middle of AM line; hindwing grayish-brown

[description by Charles Covell]

Genitalia:

Larva: greenish-, yellowish-, orangish-, or pinkish-brown with white setae along sides of body; head pinkish-tan, mottled; dorsum of last thoracic and anterior abdominal segments with irregular white blotches and interrupted middorsal stripe; rear segments with yellowish subdorsal splotches; rests with head against side of abdomen in leaf shelter

[description by David Wagner and Valerie Giles]

Several closely-related Acronicta species (albarufa, inclara, increta, modica, ovata) also on oaks with similarly-marked caterpillars

Range

Nova Scotia to South Carolina, west to Texas, north to Ontario

Season

adults fly from April to August or September; peak numbers in June and July

larvae from June to October

Food

larvae feed on leaves of Red Oak and White Oak

Life Cycle

two generations per year in the south; one in the north

See Also

A. increta and ovata are similar but have more extensive dark shading in basal area of forewing (compare images of all three species)

Internet References

BOLD

MPG

Contributed by Robin McLeod on 3 November, 2005 - 6:11pm
Additional contributions by Ethan Kistler, marcie oconnor, Blocky, Robert H. Biagi
Last updated 16 December, 2023 - 6:18am

Disclaimer: Dedicated naturalists volunteer their time and resources here to provide this service. We strive to provide accurate information, but we are mostly just amateurs attempting to make sense of a diverse natural world. If you need expert professional advice, contact your local extension office.

Contributors own the copyright to and are solely responsible for contributed content.
Click the contributor's name for licensing and usage information.
Everything else copyright © 2003-2024 Iowa State University, unless otherwise noted.

Bugguide is hosted by:

Printer Friendly Version