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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

Help ID this type of moth??? - Zale undularis

Zale undularis - Black Zale???? - Zale undularis

Pennsylvania Moth - Find The Black Zale - 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)

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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