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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Owlet Moths and kin (Noctuoidea) » Owlet Moths (Noctuidae) » Acronictinae » Dagger Moths (Acronicta) » Pacific Dagger - Hodges#9268 (Acronicta perdita)

Species Acronicta perdita - Pacific Dagger - Hodges#9268

Acronicta perdita Acronicta perdita Dagger Moth - Acronicta perdita - female Dagger Moth - Acronicta perdita - female Acronicta perdita moth sp. - Acronicta perdita Slate colored caterpillar with orange tufts - Acronicta perdita Dagger Moth - Acronicta perdita
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 Noctuidae (Owlet Moths)
Subfamily Acronictinae
Genus Acronicta (Dagger Moths)
Species perdita (Pacific Dagger - Hodges#9268)
Hodges Number
9268
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Acronicta perdita (Grote, 1874)
Phylogenetic Sequence # 931482
Size
Wingspan 42-46 mm. (1)
Identification
Adults:
Forewings gray heavily suffused with black. Hind wings of males are white and are gray in females. (2)
Specimen identified by DNA analysis:


Larvae:
Larva has orange scoli or tubercles covered with short hair tufts or spines. The color is black [or dark red/brown] with a broad white lateral band. It is illustrated by Miller & Hammond (2003).
Range
South-central British Columbia southward and westward thru western Montana, Idaho, western Nevada. Southern extent in California is the Sierra Nevada in Tulare County and to Santa Clara County along the West Coast. (3)
Habitat
Found in dry forests. (4)
Season
Adults fly from April through July. (1)
Food
Larvae feed on Ceanothus, Purshia and Salix. (1)(4) photo of caterpillar (USGS)
Life Cycle
Larva; Adult Male:
See Also
Males of A. perdita are easily identified by the mottled black forewings and pure white hindwings. Females can be confused with Acronicta impressa but are larger, blacker, and have less distinct lines and spots than in this species. (4)


Acronicta othello replaces perdita south of the Coastal Ranges and the Sierra Nevada in southern California. (3)
Internet References
Wikipedia
PNW Moths
Moth Photographers Group
Macromoths of Northwest Forests and Woodlands
Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD)
Works Cited
1.Wikipedia
2.Macromoths of Northwest Forests and Woodlands
Jeffrey Miller, Paul Hammond. 2000. USDA Forest Service, FHTET-98-18.
3.Noctuoidea Noctuidae (Part) Pantheinae, Raphiinae, Balsinae, Acronictinae
Schmidt, B.C. & G.G. Anweiler. 2020. The Moths of North America.
4.Pacific Northwest Moths
Contributed by John Davis on 13 July, 2008 - 4:21pm
Additional contributions by Robert H. Biagi, Steve Morris
Last updated 16 January, 2023 - 1:47pm

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