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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) » Catocala obscura - Hodges#8784 (Catocala obscura)

Species Catocala obscura - Hodges#8784

Classification · Hodges Number · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Size · Range · Food · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited

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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 Erebidae

Subfamily Erebinae

Tribe Catocalini

Genus Catocala (Underwings)

Species obscura (Catocala obscura - Hodges#8784)

Hodges Number

8784

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Catocala obscura Strecker, 1873 (1), (2)

Catocala simulatilis Grote, 1874 (3), (4), (5)

Catabapta obscura (6)

Explanation of Names

Specific epithet from Latin meaning "obscure, shadowy, indistinct." Strecker states, "I have seen examples in various collections for a number of years past under the name of Laehrymosa, Vidua, and Insolabilis, so to get it out of its obscurity, and as its appearance is more obscure than any of its allies, I have christened it accordingly."

Size

Wingspan 60-72 mm. (7)

Range

Ontario, Quebec and Massachusetts, south to North Carolina, west to Mississippi, Iowa, Illinois and Michigan. (7)

Type locality: West Farms, [Bronx], New York (Mr. Angus). (1), (8)

Food

Larval hosts are hickory (Carya glabra, Carya illinoinensis, Carya ovata) and black walnut (Juglans nigra). (7)

See Also

"The only similar species is C. residua, which doesn't have such a bright white fringe on the hindwing." [comment by Paul Dennehy]

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.11; Pl.2, f.17. (2)

Strecker, H., 1873. Lepidoptera, Rhopaloceres and Heteroceres, indigenous and exotic; with descriptions and colored illustrations (v. 3). Owen's Steam Book & Job Printing, p.19; Pl.3, f.4. (1)

Internet References

Moth Photographers Group (9)

Bill Oehlke's North American Catocala (7)

Ferdinand Heinrich Herman Strecker (1836-1901)

Works Cited

1.	Lepidoptera, Rhopaloceres and Heteroceres, indigenous and exotic; with descriptions and colored illustrations (v. 1-3) Herman Strecker. 1872. Owen's Steam Book & Job Printing .

2.	Illustrations of the North American species of the genus Catocala. William Barnes, James Halliday McDunnough. 1918. Memoirs of the AMNH 2(1).

3.	Remarks on North American Noctuidae with descriptions of new species A. R. Grote . 1874. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 5: 89-98.

4.	On species of Catocala A. R. Grote. 1876. The Canadian Entomologist, 8(12): 229-232.

5.	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.

6.	The genus Catocala. George. D. Hulst. 1884. Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society 7(1): 14-56.

7.	Bill Oehlke's North American Catocala

8.	Systematics of moths in the genus Catocala (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). I. Gall, Lawrence F. & David C. Hawks. 1990. Fieldiana. Zoology. 59: 1-16.

9.	North American Moth Photographers Group

Contributed by Charley Eiseman on 6 December, 2010 - 11:25pm
Additional contributions by marcie oconnor, Randy Hardy
Last updated 11 March, 2018 - 9:55am

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