Identification
Adult: forewing whitish to light yellowish-gray with dark brown or blackish median area; small basal patch same color or slightly lighter than median area, contrasting with pale area between basal and AM lines; AM line smooth, gently curved only at costa, then running straight and meeting inner margin at right angle; PM line with angular hump near midpoint, and rounded hump near costa; four lines cross the forewing inside the median area, two of them following the contour of the AM line, the other two following the contour of the PM line; small dark discal spot in median area (sometimes absent); dark grayish triangular patch usually present along outer margin near costa; ST line white, scalloped, indistinct; terminal line dark, thin, broken, almost straight; outer margin almost straight or flat, rather than gently rounded; hindwing whitish or pale gray, slightly darker toward inner margin, with faint discal spot and three or four incomplete grayish lines; terminal line dark, thin, broken
Range
British Columbia to California, east to Arizona and Utah
Season
adults fly in spring and again in fall
Food
larvae have been found feeding on flowers of Begonia, and reared on flowers of bramble (Rubus spp.)
[Jeremy Tatum, British Columbia]
See Also
Several other species in the tribe Xanthorhoini are similar, but show the following differences:
Euphyia intermediata lacks a smooth AM line on the forewing;
Xanthorhoe alticolata has reddish tint in median area, and has continuously-curved AM line that meets inner margin at slight angle;
Xanthorhoe ferrugata and
lacustrata lack double interior lines in the median area of the forewing (
compare images of all 5 species)
Caveat: another species, Xanthorhoe dodata occurs in Alberta and British Columbia (and probably northwestern US) but no images could be found on the Internet as of August 2007.
Internet References
live larva and adult images plus food plants (Jeremy Tatum, Butterflies and Moths of Southern Vancouver Island)
pinned adult images of three specimens, showing variation in color (CBIF)
pinned adult image (Bruce Walsh, Moths of Southeastern Arizona)
pinned adult image plus similar species and other info (Jeff Miller, Macromoths of Northwest Forests and Woodlands; USGS)
