Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar
Upcoming Events

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

National Moth Week was July 23-31, 2022! See moth submissions.

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

Photos of insects and people from the 2019 gathering in Louisiana, July 25-27

Photos of insects and people from the 2018 gathering in Virginia, July 27-29

Photos of insects and people from the 2015 gathering in Wisconsin, July 10-12


Previous events


TaxonomyBrowse
Info
ImagesLinksBooksData

Species Acronicta innotata - Unmarked Dagger - Hodges#9207

Moth - Acronicta innotata Unmarked Dagger - Acronicta innotata Noctuidae: Acronicta innotata? - Acronicta innotata 9207 Unmarked Dagger - Acronicta innotata Unmarked Dagger, 9207 - Acronicta innotata Acronicta innotata Caterpillar - Acronicta innotata Acronicta innotata
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 innotata (Unmarked Dagger - Hodges#9207)
Hodges Number
9207
Other Common Names
Birch Dagger (Entomological Society of Canada) - not recommended because another species, Acronicta betulae already has that name, based on the meaning of its specific epithet
Size
wingspan 35-40 mm (1)
Identification
Adult: forewing creamy white to pale gray; bulge of postmedial (PM) line indented to form two small bulges; PM line bordered distally by slightly darker grayish shading, and proximally by a white band (sometimes indistinct); no basal or anal dash; reniform spot a black crescent; three or four black marks equally spaced along costa; terminal line composed of several black dots; hindwing white with diffuse dark discal spot, PM line, and shading
[adapted from description by Charles Covell]
Range
Newfoundland to British Columbia and adjacent northern states, south in the east to North Carolina and Kentucky
Season
adults fly from May to August (1)
Food
larvae feed on leaves of alder, birch, cherry, hickory, poplar, willow
Remarks
As of December 2006, the images labeled Unmarked Dagger (Acronicta innotata) at Larry Line's site appear to be Acronicta betulae (note the sharp right-angle in the lower portion of the PM line).
See Also
Birch Dagger (A. betulae) forewing has a sharp right-angle in the lower portion of the PM line, and the species has not been recorded in Canada
Internet References
live adult image (Dave Pelletier, Connecticut)
pinned adult image (A.W. Thomas, Canadian Forest Service)
pinned adult image (Insects of Cedar Creek, Minnesota)
pinned adult image (James Adams, Dalton State College, Georgia)
common name reference [Birch Dagger] (Entomological Society of Canada)
common name reference; PDF doc [Unmasked Dagger] (Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre)
distribution in Canada list of provinces (U. of Alberta, using CBIF data)
Works Cited
1.Field Guide to Moths of Eastern North America
Charles V. Covell, Jr. 2005.