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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) » Smeared Dagger - Hodges#9272 (Acronicta oblinita)

Species Acronicta oblinita - Smeared Dagger - Hodges#9272

Classification · Hodges Number · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Smeared Dagger Moth - Acronicta oblinita Unknown Caterpillar - Acronicta oblinita Found eating dandelion leaves - Acronicta oblinita American Dagger? - Acronicta oblinita Not a webworm? - Acronicta oblinita Caterpillar on Sparganium Spp. - Acronicta oblinita Acronicta oblinita Acronicta? - Acronicta oblinita
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 oblinita (Smeared Dagger - Hodges#9272)
Hodges Number
9272
Other Common Names
Smartweed Caterpillar
Acronicte souillée - En français… Ilze V-G.
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Acronicta oblinita (J.E. Smith, 1797)
Synonym Acronicta arioch Strecker, 1898 [9271].
Phylogenetic sequence # 931485
Size
Wingspan 36-54 mm.
Identification
Caterpillar: Dark with dorsal warts bearing tufts. Yellow, V-shaped blotches between the spiracles are distinctive.
Range
Eastern North America. Nova Scotia to British Columbia, and south to Florida and Texas.
Habitat
Deciduous forests and adjacent areas with host plants
Season
Adults fly May to July and again later in southern areas.
Caterpillar: May to October
Food
A variety of forbs, shrubs, and trees including willow, alder, strawberry, cattail, smartweed, fireweed and grasses. (University of Alberta E.H. Strickland Entomological Museum)
Life Cycle
One or two generations per year, more in southern North America.
Larva; cocoon; adult
Remarks
Caution, larva may "sting" if handled.
Print References
Wagner, D.L., Giles, V., Reardon, R.C., & M.L. McManus, 1998. Caterpillars of Eastern Forests. U.S. Dept of Agriculture, p. 30. (1)
Covell, C.V., 1984. Field Guide to Eastern Moths. Houghton Mifflin Company, p. 88, plate 1 #4 (caterpillar), plate 13, #18 (adult). (2)
Wagner, D.L., 2005. Caterpillars of Eastern North America. Princeton University Press, p. 332. (3)
Internet References
Discover Life
Moth Photographers Group (4)
Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) (5)
iNaturalist
Pacific Northwest Moths
Maryland Biodiversity Project
University of Alberta E.H. Strickland Entomological Museum
Works Cited
1.Caterpillars of Eastern Forests
David L. Wagner, Valerie Giles, Richard C. Reardon, Michael L. McManus. 1998. U.S. Dept of Agriculture, Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team.
2.Peterson Field Guides: Eastern Moths
Charles V. Covell. 1984. Houghton Mifflin Company.
3.Caterpillars of Eastern North America
David L. Wagner. 2005. Princeton University Press.
4.North American Moth Photographers Group
5.BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data Systems
Contributed by Cotinis on 8 April, 2004 - 4:37pm
Additional contributions by john and jane balaban, Beatriz Moisset, Lynette Elliott, anitagould, Maury Heiman, marcie oconnor, Randy Hardy, Fyn Kynd
Last updated 22 June, 2024 - 4:47pm

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