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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Owlet Moths and kin (Noctuoidea) » Erebidae » Erebinae » Omopterini » Zale » Black Zale - Hodges#8695 (Zale undularis)

Species Zale undularis - Black Zale - Hodges#8695

Classification · Hodges Number · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Size · Identification · Range · Season · Food · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Black Zale Moth - Zale undularis Black Zale - Hodges#8695 - Zale undularis Black Zale - Zale undularis Black Zale - Zale undularis Zale sp. - Zale undularis Zale sp. - Zale undularis Zale sp. - Zale undularis zale071917 - Zale undularis
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 Omopterini
Genus Zale
Species undularis (Black Zale - Hodges#8695)
Hodges Number
8695
Other Common Names
Fausse arpenteuse du robinier - En français… Ilze V-G.
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Zale undularis (Drury, 1773)
original combination Phalaena undularis Drury, 1773
Phaeocyma undularis (Smith's redescription)
synonym Homoptera nigricans Bethune, 1865 (description)
synonym Ypsia umbripennis Grote, 1876
* phylogentic sequence #931030
Size
wingspan 38-46 mm(1)
Larvae to 40 mm (Crumb, 1956)
Identification
Adult: wings blackish-brown to coal black with inconspicuous wavy black lines(1); yellowish blotch outside upper ST line is usually the only pale mark, although some individuals show whitish shading in median area, extending to inner margin of both wings
Range
Minnesota and Manitoba to New Brunswick, south to Florida and Arkansas(2)
Season
adults fly from April to September; May and June in the north (Ontario)
Food
larvae feed on leaves of Black Locust, Honey Locust(2)
See Also
Green-dusted Zale has greenish dusting or speckling on wings
Zale calycanthata has pale AM and terminal areas on the forewing
(compare images of all three species)
Print References
Smith, John B. (1908) A REVISION OF SOME SPECIES OF NOCTUIDAE HERETOFORE REFERRED TO THE GENUS HOMOPTERA BOISDUVAL p.231 (PDF download)
Crumb, Samuel Ebb (1956) The larvae of the Phalaenidae U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Technical Bulletin no. 1135 p. 292 (view)
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group (MPG)
Barcode of Life (BOLD)
live adult images plus description, food plants, flight season (Lynn Scott, Ontario)
adult images (Larry Line, Maryland)
live adult image (Bob Patterson, Maryland)
live adult image (Dave Czaplak, Maryland)
pinned adult image (James Adams, Dalton State College, Georgia)
US distribution map (Moths of North America; USGS)
Works Cited
1.Field Guide to Moths of Eastern North America
Charles V. Covell, Jr. 2005.
2.Owlet Caterpillars of Eastern North America
David L. Wagner. 2011. Princeton University Press.
Contributed by Robin McLeod on 20 February, 2006 - 10:22pm
Additional contributions by john and jane balaban, marcie oconnor, Randy Hardy, Steve Morris
Last updated 7 January, 2023 - 10:09am

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