Species Andropolia contacta - Canadian Giant - Hodges#9564

9564

Polia diffusilis

described in 1856 by Walker, who originally placed it in genus Acronycta

wingspan about 44 mm, based on photo by Jim Vargo at MPG

Adult: forewing ground color white but covered with black speckling, giving an overall gray appearance; AM, PM, and subterminal lines black, zigzag, with large sharp teeth; thin black line runs along main vein to lower corner of reniform spot; basal dash faint or lacking; black anal dash thin, inconspicuous; terminal area with more dark shading than in A. aedon; terminal line a series of black spots that extend into fringe; hindwing light gray with dark PM line, dark veins, and diffuse discal spot; terminal line thin, dark; fringe pale gray or whitish

Alaska to Newfoundland, south to New England, New York, Colorado, and southern British Columbia; apparently absent from Oregon but one record from California

type specimen collected in Ontario

boreal forest

adults fly mostly in July and August; one record from California in September, and one from Alberta in October

larvae feed on leaves of alder (Alnus), birch (Betula), Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides), and willow (Salix)

Andropolia aedon forewing has more prominent basal dash, more white in subterminal area, and less dark shading in terminal area; the species is restricted to the west from California to British Columbia and Alberta

Moth Photographers Group (MPG)

Pacific Northwest Moths

Barcode of Life (BOLD)

common name reference [Canadian Giant] plus list of 35 specimen records from Alberta with dates and locations (Strickland Entomological Museum, U. of Alberta)

larval foodplants plus synonyms and type specimen locality (Markku Savela, FUNET)

presence in Utah; list (Joel Johnson, Utah Lepidopterists Society)

distribution; PDF doc and habitat (J.D. Lafontaine and D.M. Wood, Butterflies and Moths of the Yukon)

distribution list of provinces and territories of occurrence (U. of Alberta, using CBIF data)

author, date, and original genus (nearctica.com)