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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Owlet Moths and kin (Noctuoidea) » Erebidae » Erebinae » Catocalini » Underwings (Catocala) » Graceful Underwing - Hodges#8847 (Catocala gracilis)

Species Catocala gracilis - Graceful Underwing - Hodges#8847

Classification · Hodges Number · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Size · Identification · Range · Season · Food · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Graceful Underwing - Catocala gracilis unknown underwing - Catocala gracilis Graceful Underwing - Catocala gracilis Unknown Moth - Catocala gracilis Mystery Catocala #3 - Catocala gracilis graceful underwing - Catocala gracilis Catocala gracilis Pennsylvania Moth - Catocala gracilis
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 gracilis (Graceful Underwing - Hodges#8847)
Hodges Number
8847
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Catocala gracilis Edwards, 1864 (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6)
Catocala gracilis form cinerea Mayfield 1922 (5)
Catocala gracilis abber. lemmeri Mayfield, 1923 (33)
Catocala gracilis form "hesperis" Sargent, 1976 (7)
Explanation of Names
Specific epithet from Latin meaning "unadorned, slender, graceful."
Size
Wingspan 40-45 mm. (8)
Identification
Adult - FW mottled and heavilly shaded along inner margin. Usually has a basal dash. HW inner black band on yellow forms an incomplete loop.
Range
N.S. to Florida, west to Man. and Miss. common in the northeast, rarer westward.
Season
July to September.
Food
Larval hosts: (9)
blueberry (Vaccinium)
fetterbush (Leucothoe)
oak (Quercus)
See Also
Catocala sordida has complete hindwing dark inner loop (same hindwing loop incomplete on gracilis; dark scaling along forewing inner margin is limited to median area (dark scaling along forewing inner margin more extensive on gracilis; ST line teeth relatively short and blunt (sharper and longer in gracilis (8)
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.35; Pl.9, f.7-9. (4)
Edwards, W.H., 1864. Descriptions of certain species of Catocala, found within the United States. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Philadelphia 2: 511. (1)
(10)
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group (MPG) (11)
Bill Oehlke's North American Catocala (8)
Barcode of Life (BOLD)
William Henry Edwards (1822–1909)
Works Cited
1.Descriptions of certain species of Catocala, found within the United States.
William Henry Edwards. 1864. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Philadelphia 2: 508-512.
2.On the North American species of Catocala.
Augustus Radcliffe Grote. 1872. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 4: 1-20.
3.The genus Catocala.
George. D. Hulst. 1884. Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society 7(1): 14-56.
4.Illustrations of the North American species of the genus Catocala.
William Barnes, James Halliday McDunnough. 1918. Memoirs of the AMNH 2(1).
5.Notes on the life histories of North American Catocalae, with descriptions of two new forms.
T.D. Mayfield. 1922. Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society 17: 114-120, 138-142.
6.Systematics of moths in the genus Catocala (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). III.
Gall, Lawrence F. & David C. Hawks. 2002. Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society. 56(4): 234-264.
7.Legion of Night: The Underwing Moths
Theodore D. Sargent. 1976. University of Massachusetts Press.
8.Bill Oehlke's North American Catocala
9.HOSTS - The Hostplants and Caterpillars Database
10.Field Guide to Moths of Eastern North America
Charles V. Covell, Jr. 2005.
11.North American Moth Photographers Group
Contributed by tom murray on 28 December, 2005 - 6:12pm
Additional contributions by marcie oconnor, Randy Hardy, Steve Morris
Last updated 1 May, 2023 - 8:53am

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