Species Agrotis volubilis - Voluble Dart - Hodges#10659

10659

wingspan 35-40 mm (1)

Adult: forewing medium brown to gray with well-defined markings; upper half of wing often darker than lower half; black dash extending from base of wing through claviform spot is distinguishing feature; orbicular spot oval, not elongate/parallel-sided; terminal area with several black triangular spots; hindwing white with dark veins

Nova Scotia to Maryland, west to Colorado, north to Alberta; also occurs in California

This page (and the PDF doc it was based on) gives a distribution of "Widespread in North America from Newfoundland to British Columbia in Canada and in the United States from Maine to Florida and west to the West Coast (Lafontaine 2004)" but this is almost certainly a transcription error copied verbatim from the preceding species in the PDF doc, A. venerabilis.

The Canadian list shows that A. volubilis does not occur in Newfoundland or BC, it has not been collected in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, there are no local specimens in the North Carolina State collection or the Oregon State collection, and the species name does not appear on moth lists from South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Texas (1, 2, 3), or Arizona.

woodlands, bogs; adults are nocturnal and come to light

adults fly from late May to early July; as early as April in California

Covell's Guide indicates a second flight in September (2 broods) but I found no records on the Internet later that July 9th, and no indication that volubilis is double-brooded

unrecorded but probably a wide variety of plants (1)

one generation per year

Venerable Dart (A. venerabilis) flies in the fall, its forewing has an elongate/parallel-sided orbicular spot, and the black dash is restricted to the claviform spot (doesn't extend to base of wing) - compare Lynn Scott's photos of venerabilis and volubilis.

Two other similar species of Agrotis have dark hindwings, not white (compare images of 4 species at CBIF)

Moth Photographers Group (2)