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Species Catocala ultronia - Ultronia Underwing - Hodges#8857

Underwing - Catocala ultronia moth - Catocala ultronia Catocala ultronia Noctuid moth - Catocala ultronia Underwing sp. - Catocala ultronia Noctuidae, Ultronia Underwing - Catocala ultronia Pennsylvania Caterpillar - Catocala ultronia Moth - Red when flying - Catocala ultronia
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 Erebidae
Subfamily Erebinae
Tribe Catocalini
Genus Catocala (Underwings)
Species ultronia (Ultronia Underwing - Hodges#8857)
Hodges Number
8857
Other Common Names
Dark Red Underwing
Scarlet Underwing
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Catocala ultronia (Hübner, 1823) (1), (2), (3)
Eunetis ultronia Hübner, 1823
Catocala ultronia var. adriana Hy. Edwards, 1880 (4)
Catocala ultronia var. celia Hy. Edwards, 1880 (4), (5)
Catocala ultronia var. mopsa Hy. Edwards, 1880 (4), (5)
Catocala ultronia var. lucinda Beutenmüller, 1907 (6)
Caltocala ultonia form nigrescens Cassino, 1917 (79)
Phylogenetic sequence #930841
Explanation of Names
Bill Oehlke's site states that specific epithet is the name of a Greek island.
Numbers
Lafontaine & Schmidt (2010) included 101 species of the genus Catocala in America north of Mexico. (7)
Powell & Opler (2009) reported 110 species in all of North America, and about 230 worldwide. (8)
Size
Winspan 46-63 mm
Identification
Adult: forewing pattern predominantly longitudinal (running from base to outer margin), rather than transverse (running from costa to inner margin) as in many other Catocala species; typically has dark brown to black strip along inner margin, and similar-colored subapical patch extending from outer margin to PM line or reniform spot; central longitudinal area light gray or brown, but the extent and intensity of shading varies considerably among individuals; pale brown patch usually present along costa at apex; hinding dark orangish-red, rarely pinkish or yellow, with complete black median band and wider black terminal band; small white patch at apex; antennae filiform; sexes similar.
Larva: distinct black line across top of head; body gray with dense fringe of hairs along lateroventral margin above legs; prominent dorsal horn on fifth abdominal segment; oblique black line runs anteriorly from dorsal base of eighth abdominal segment.
Range
Across southern Canada from Nova Scotia to eastern British Columbia, and all of eastern United States, west to Texas and Minnesota.
Season
Adults fly from July through September in the north; as early as late April in the south (Texas).
Food
Larvae show a preference for members of the Rosaceae family, feeding mostly on apple and various species of cherry (Prunus spp.), but will also eat leaves of green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica), American basswood (Tilia americana), and bigtooth aspen (Populus grandidentata).
Life Cycle
One generation per year; overwinters as an egg; mature larvae descend tree trunk and pupate on or in the soil under leaf litter.
Print References
Barnes, Wm. & J.H. McDunnough, 1918. Illustrations of the North American species of the genus Catocala. Memoirs of the AMNH 2(1): p.39; Pl.7, f.17-20; Pl.12, f.15, 17 (larva). (2)
Covell, p. 313, plate 33#9 (9)
Hübner, J., 1823. Zuträge zur Sammlung exotischer Schmetterlinge 2: 26l Pl.61, f.347-348.
Works Cited
1.On the North American species of Catocala.
Augustus Radcliffe Grote. 1872. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 4: 1-20.
2.Illustrations of the North American species of the genus Catocala.
William Barnes, James Halliday McDunnough. 1918. Memoirs of the AMNH 2(1).
3.Systematics of moths in the genus Catocala (Lepidoptera, Erebidae) IV. Nomenclatorial stabilization of the ....
Lawrence Gall, David Hawks. 2010. Zookeys 39: 37-83.
4.Notes upon the genus Catocala, with descriptions of new varieties and species.
Henry Edwards. 1880. Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society 3(7): 53-62.
5.The genus Catocala.
George. D. Hulst. 1884. Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society 7(1): 14-56.
6.New forms of Catocala.
William Beutenmüller . 1907. Bulletin of the Americal Museum of Natural History, 23(26): 935-940.
7.Annotated check list of the Noctuoidea (Insecta, Lepidoptera) of North America north of Mexico.
Donald J. Lafontaine, B. Christian Schmidt. 2010. ZooKeys 40: 1–239 .
8.Moths of Western North America
Powell and Opler. 2009. UC Press.
9.Peterson Field Guides: Eastern Moths
Charles V. Covell. 1984. Houghton Mifflin Company.
10.North American Moth Photographers Group
11.Bill Oehlke's North American Catocala