Species Lycia rachelae - Twilight Moth - Hodges#6653
Classification Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily Geometroidea (Geometrid and Swallowtail Moths)
Family Geometridae (Geometrid Moths)
Subfamily Ennominae
Tribe Bistonini
Genus Lycia
Species rachelae (Twilight Moth - Hodges#6653)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes Lycia rachelae (Hulst, 1896)
* phylogenetic sequence #196525 Explanation of Names Twilight: adults are most active during the hour before sunset, possibly in response to the cold nights of early spring Numbers one of 3 species in this genus in North America
very rare in northeast: threatened, or a species of special concern in several northeastern states such as Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Vermont; first Ontario record was 31 March 2006 at Dunrobin near Ottawa
Size wingspan of males 35 - 37mm, females essentially wingless (1)Identification Adult: wings reduced or absent in female, which cannot fly; male wings translucent gray with prominent black veins and dull orangish strip along costa; forewing with 3 dark lines crossing wing, middle line heaviest; hindwing with dark discal spot; male antennae pectinate; body of both sexes bulky, hairy, black with mix of pale hairlike scales and orange middorsal stripe on abdomen
Larva: body gray with fine black and orange markings and white and orange lateral stripe Range Alaska and Yukon south to northern California and Colorado, east to Quebec, Maine, and northern tier of northeastern states Habitat pine/oak barrens, boreal forest, early successional areas containing birch and poplar Season adult male flies from late March to early June; peak in April or the week after snow melt (1)Food larvae feed on leaves of alder, apple, birch, buffaloberry (Shepherdia canadensis), chokecherry, elm, poplar, willow, and other woody plants in the rose family
adults do not feed Life Cycle eggs are laid in goups under loose bark (1), and hatch in late spring or early summer; overwinters as a pupa in soil; one generation per year Remarks Males very rarely appear at lights, likely because the flight finishes before full darkness sets in. See Also Stout Spanworm Moth ( Lycia ursaria) male wings are heavily speckled with dark and pale scales, not translucent gray.
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Woolly Gray ( Lycia ypsilon) male wings with speckled patches of black and white, not translucent gray.
Print References Powell, J. A., and P. A. Opler 2009. Moths of Western North America. pl. 28.31; p. 211. (2)
Rindge, Frederick H. 1975. A revision of the New World Bistonini, (Lepidoptera, Geometridae). Bulletin of the AMNH ; v. 156, article 2. (3)Internet References Moth Photographers Group - range map, photos of living and pinned adults.
presence in California 1 specimen record, plus date and location (U. of California at Berkeley)
distribution in Canada list of provinces and territories (CBIF) Works Cited | 1. | Rare, Declining, and Poorly Known Butterflies and Moths of Forests and Woodlands in the Eastern United States
Dale F. Schweitzer, Marc C. Minno, David L. Wagner. 2011. U.S. Forest Service, Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team, FHTET-2011-01. . | |
| 2. | Moths of Western North America
Powell and Opler. 2009. UC Press. | |
| 3. | A revision of the New World Bistonini, (Lepidoptera, Geometridae).
Frederick H. Rindge. 1975. American Museum of Natural History 156(2):. | |
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