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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Moths » Noctuoidea » Erebidae » Erebinae » Ophiusini » Zale » Lunate Zale - Hodges#8689 (Zale lunata)

Species Zale lunata - Lunate Zale - Hodges#8689

Classification · Hodges Number · Explanation of Names · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Lunate Zale - Zale lunata Lunate Zale Moth For Illinois In October - Zale lunata - female Luna-margined Zale - Zale lunata Compost Moth - Zale lunata Lunate Zale - Hodges#8689 - Zale lunata Lunate Zale - Hodges#8689 (Zale lunata)? - Zale lunata Kansas Moth ID Needed - Zale lunata Lunate Zale - 8689 - Dorsal - Zale lunata
Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
No Taxon (Moths)
Superfamily Noctuoidea
Family Erebidae
Subfamily Erebinae
Tribe Ophiusini
Genus Zale
Species lunata (Lunate Zale - Hodges#8689)
Hodges Number
8689
Explanation of Names
Species name "lunata" possibly refers to the crescent-shaped marks on the wings.
Size
Wingspan 4-5.5 cm
Identification
Largest eastern Zale, very common. See references.
Range
Texas to Wisconsin east to New England and south to Florida; also recorded from British Columbia south to California
Habitat
Deciduous forests
Season
March-November
Food
Comes to moth bait, so presumably takes some juices from rotting fruit, etc.
Life Cycle
Larvae feed on various trees and shrubs: maples, plums, willow.
See Also
Zale minerea is similar. See comments below for links.
Print References
Covell, p. 165, plate 37 #8, 10 (1)
Himmelman, plate B-3 (2)
Wagner, p. 47 (3)
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group - species page with photographs of living and pinned adults.
Dallas Butterflies
MIACY
Insects of Cedar Creek
Candadian Biodiversity
North Carolina State University Entomology Collection--the most common Zale in that state, with 130 pinned.
Works Cited
1.Peterson Field Guides: Eastern Moths
By Charles V. Covell
2.Discovering Moths: Nighttime Jewels in Your Own Backyard
By John Himmelman
3.Caterpillars of Eastern Forests
By David L. Wagner, Valerie Giles, Richard C. Reardon, Michael L. McManus
Contributed by Cotinis on 10 June, 2004 - 5:30pm
Additional contributions by Jason D. Roberts, Maury Heiman
Last updated 28 May, 2010 - 9:06am

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