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Species Catocala unijuga - Once-married Underwing - Hodges#8805

Species Catocala unijuga - Once-married Underwing - Hodges#8805????? - Catocala unijuga Underwing - Catocala unijuga Catocala unijuga Catocala amatrix?? - Catocala unijuga Erebidae: Catocala unijuga - Catocala unijuga Erebidae: Catocala unijuga - Catocala unijuga genus Catacola, possibly unijuga or semirelicta - Catocala unijuga Erebidae: Catocala - Catocala unijuga
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 Erebidae
Subfamily Erebinae
Tribe Catocalini
Genus Catocala (Underwings)
Species unijuga (Once-married Underwing - Hodges#8805)
Hodges Number
8805
Pronunciation
yoo-nih-JOO-guh
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Catocala unijuga Walker, [1858] (1), (2), (3), (4), (5)
Catocala lucilla Worthington, 1883 (6), (7)
Catocala unijuga var. fletcheri Beutenmüller, 1903 (8)
Catocala unijuga var. agatha Beutenmüller, 1907 (9)
Catocala helena Cassino, 1917 (10)
Explanation of Names
UNIJUGA: from the Latin "unis" (one) + "jugalis" (pertaining to a yoke; matrimonial); translates to the common name [Once-married] but has no particular significance. The common names given to species of Catocala are often fanciful and arbitrary.
Size
Wingspan 70-90 mm. (11)
Larvae to 50 mm.
Identification
Adult: forewing mottled pale to dark gray and white; black PM and white ST lines zigzag; orangish-red band on hindwing only slightly irregular; fringe mostly white [description by Charles Covell).
Larva: dark gray with very irregular pale middorsal stripe; head with black stripes on sides, broadly connected across the vertex [description by Bill Oehlke).
Range
British Columbia to Newfoundland, south to Connecticut and Pennsylvania, west to Colorado and Montana.
Walker's specimens: St. Martin's Falls, Albany River, Hudson's Bay (Dr. Barnston; United States (E. Doubleday, Esq.); Canada (Dr. Barnston).
Season
Adults fly from July to October.
Food
Larvae feed on leaves of Populus spp. (aspen, cottonwood, poplar) and willow. (12)
Life Cycle
One generation per year.
See Also
C. meskei is similar but its forewing is more evenly patterned, with few contrasts or strong markings compared to unijuga; the PM line of meskei is often single (at least in leading half of wing) with no white border on distal side. Also, the hindwing median band of meskei is relatively thin, tapered and usually angled inward at tip; its apex has a light orangish or yellowish patch, lacking in unijuga. Compare images of both species.
Print References
Barnes, Wm. & J.H. McDunnough, 1918. Illustrations of the North American species of the genus Catocala. Memoirs of the AMNH 2(1): p.27; Pl.4, f.6,7; Pl.1, f.19 (fletcheri); Pl.13, f.8 (larva). (5)
Walker, F., 1857. List of the specimens of lepidopterous insects in the collection of the British Museum. Part XIII - Noctuidae. British Museum (Natural History), p.1194. (1)
Works Cited
1.List of the specimens of lepidopterous insects in the collection of the British Museum. Part XIII - Noctuidae.
Francis Walker. 1857. British Museum (Natural History), p.984-1236.
2.On the North American species of Catocala.
Augustus Radcliffe Grote. 1872. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 4: 1-20.
3.Notes upon the genus Catocala, with descriptions of new varieties and species.
Henry Edwards. 1880. Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society 3(7): 53-62.
4.The genus Catocala.
George. D. Hulst. 1884. Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society 7(1): 14-56.
5.Illustrations of the North American species of the genus Catocala.
William Barnes, James Halliday McDunnough. 1918. Memoirs of the AMNH 2(1).
6.On certain Catocalae.
C.E. Worthington. 1883. Papilio 3(2): 39-41.
7.Systematics of moths in the genus Catocala (Noctuidae). II.
Gall, Lawrence F. 1990. Psyche 97: 121-130.
8.Notes on some species of Catocala.
William Beutenmüller . 1903. Bulletin of the AMNH, 19(19): 505-510.
9.New forms of Catocala.
William Beutenmüller . 1907. Bulletin of the Americal Museum of Natural History, 23(26): 935-940.
10.New species of Catocala.
Samuel E. Cassino. 1917. The Lepidopterist 1(8): 61-64.
11.Bill Oehlke's North American Catocala
12.HOSTS - The Hostplants and Caterpillars Database
13.North American Moth Photographers Group