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Species Euxoa detersa - Rubbed Dart - Hodges#10838

Moth - Euxoa detersa Moth - Euxoa detersa moth sp - Euxoa detersa 9053500 Noct - Euxoa detersa Euxoa detersa Euxoa detersa Rubbed Dart Moth - Euxoa detersa Euxoa detersa
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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 Noctuinae (Cutworm or Dart Moths)
Tribe Noctuini
Subtribe Agrotina
Genus Euxoa
No Taxon (Subgenus Euxoa)
No Taxon (detersa group)
Species detersa (Rubbed Dart - Hodges#10838)
Hodges Number
10838
Other Common Names
Sandhill Cutworm (larva)
Sand Cutworm (larva)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Euxoa detersa (Walker, 1856)
Charaeas detersa Walker, 1856
Numbers
Two subspecies: the nominate occurs along the Atlantic seaboard and in the St. Lawrence Valley and the eastern part of the Great Lakes region; E. (E.) detersa personata is found from the Great Plains east through the Great Lakes region to the St. Lawrence River Valley. The nominate subspecies differs from ssp. personata "in having the forewing longitudinally streaked with pale shading on the costa, veins CuA, CuA1, and M3, and distal to the claviform spot."(1)
Size
wingspan 30-35 mm (2)
larvae to 34 mm
Identification
Adult: forewing yellowish to dark brown, dark specimens tinted with gray; lines double, white-edged; orbicular and reniform spots whitish with dark brown outlines, and dots in their centers; hindwing dark brown (2)
E. d. detersa typical form has pale strip along costa of forewing, and dark shading between reniform and orbicular spots (see example from Maryland); another form from Canada and the Great Lakes lacks the pale strip and is more uniformly colored (see example at CBIF)

Larva: body white to pale gray; pulsations in blood vessel along back can be seen through cuticle; faint chalky-white stripes on back and sides; head dull reddish-brown
[description by U. of Illinois]
Range
Newfoundland westward to Fort Smith in the Northwest Territories and to southwestern Alberta; it occurs southward to South Carolina, northern Missouri, southern Kansas, and northeastern Colorado.(1) The species occurs primarily in the Great Plains from Nebraska to the Canadian Prairie provinces, around the Great Lakes, and along the Atlantic coast from New Jersey to New Brunswick (Lafontaine, 1981).
Habitat
sandy habitats: beaches, river shores, dunes, sandy agricultural fields, dry grasslands
adults visit flowers such as goldenrod during the day, and come to light at night
Season
Flies end of August into October on Block Island, RI, where it occurs exclusively in dune habitats.(3)
Food
larvae feed on corn, grasses, cranberry, saltwort, sea-rocket, various garden crops and commercial grains
Life Cycle
one generation per year; overwinters as a partially-grown larva
Remarks
Larvae construct subterranean burrows to feed on underground portions of host plants, and can be very destructive in fields planted in sandy soils.

"The commonest autumn dart to be found supping nectar from flower in the daytime." (Comment by David Beadle)
Print References
Lafontaine, J.D. 1981. Classification and phylogeny of the Euxoa detersa group (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Quaestiones Entomologicae, 17: 1–120 (Figs. 60, 61, 93, 123, 155, 183).(4)
Lafontaine, J.D. 1982. Biogeography of the genus Euxoa (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in North America. Can. Ent., 114: 1–53
Internet References
Works Cited
1.The Moths of America North of Mexico, Noctuoidea, Noctuidae (Part), Noctuinae (Part-Euxoa), Fascicle 27.2
J. Donald LaFontane. 1987. The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation.
2.Field Guide to Moths of Eastern North America
Charles V. Covell, Jr. 2005.
3.Block Island Moths
4.Classification and phylogeny of the Euxoa detersa group (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)
J. D. Lafontaine. 1981. Quaestiones Entomologicae 17: 1-120.