Species Acontia cretata - Chalky Bird Dropping Moth - Hodges#9161

9161

Acontia cretata (Grote(1) & Robinson, 1870)

Tarache cretata Grote & Robinson, 1870

Phylogenetic sequence # 931375 (2)

cretata: from the Latin "creta" (chalk); "cretated" means rubbed with chalk - refers to the whitish color on the forewing, and is the origin of the suggested common name Chalky Bird Dropping Moth.

Wingspan 22-27 mm.

Adult: forewing mostly white basally, and dark green to blackish beyond PM line; amount of pearl-gray shading in basal half varies from almost none to almost complete; reniform spot either white or dark, bordered by pale yellowish-green shading on one or both sides; fringe scales usually white along lower half of outer margin, and dark along upper half; hindwing white, shading to brownish-gray at outer margin; fringe white.

Widespread throughout southern and central United States, as far north as extreme southern Saskatchewan, Canada and south into Mexico. (3), (4)

Adults fly from April to September.

Poole states the host is unknown. (5)

The larva are a host of the parasitoid braconid wasp Bracon mellitor. (6)

Acontia chea

Acontia coquillettii has a cream yellow tinge to FW - see comparison at Nearctica

Grote, A.R. & C.T. Robinson, 1870. Description of American Lepidoptera, no. 5. Transactions of the American Entomological Society, 3: 181. (7)

Moth Photographers Group (8)

Pacific Northwest Moths (9)

Nearctica.com (5)

Moths of Southeastern Arizona (10)

presence in California 8 specimen records with dates and locations (U. of California at Berkeley)