Species Apamea verbascoides - Hodges#9326

9326

Boreal Apamea

Mullein Apamea

Apamea verbascoides (Guenée, 1852)

status varies from common northward (Quebec) to rare southward (Indiana, Ohio)

wingspan about 43 mm, based on Canadian Forest Service specimen

Adult: forewing light brown in upper half, dark brown with black steaks in lower half, except for speckled gray strip bordering inner margin; black basal, median, and anal dashes almost join to form a continuous stripe parallel to inner margin; black subapical dash present; PM line represented by double series of black dots in upper half; AM line lacking

hindwing brownish-gray with dark veins and faint discal lunule; fringe yellowish with scattered dark scales

Newfoundland to North Carolina, northwest to Saskatchewan

adults fly from June to September

larval host unknown but presumably grasses and sedges, as in most Apamea species

one generation per year

very similar to Drunk Apamea (Apamea inebriata) but that species is restricted to the east coast from Nova Scotia to North Carolina

resembles Apamea cariosa, which has a zigzag AM line, and less extensive black streaking on lower half of forewing

Moth Photographers Group - MPG

iNaturalist