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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Owlet Moths and kin (Noctuoidea) » Owlet Moths (Noctuidae) » Acronictinae » Dagger Moths (Acronicta) » American Dagger Moth - Hodges#9200 (Acronicta americana)

Species Acronicta americana - American Dagger Moth - Hodges#9200

brownish dagger - Acronicta americana Caterpillar White And Black Hairs - Acronicta americana Acronicta americana Acronicta - Acronicta americana American Dagger Moth - Acronicta americana Caterpillars - Acronicta americana Apatelodes torrefacta ? - Acronicta americana Acronicta americana
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 Noctuidae (Owlet Moths)
Subfamily Acronictinae
Genus Acronicta (Dagger Moths)
Species americana (American Dagger Moth - Hodges#9200)
Hodges Number
9200
Other Common Names
Acronycte d'Amérique - En français… Ilze V-G.
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Acronicta americana Harris, 1841
Apatela Americana
Numbers
Common throughout the East (1)
Size
Wingspan 50-65 mm (1)
Caterpillar to 50 mm (2 in) (2)
Identification


Caterpillar is densely covered with white or yellow hairs (early and middle instars more yellow), with pairs of diverging thin black lashes on A1 and A3 (first and third abdominal segments), a single tuft of black hairs on A8. Head smooth and shiny black. (3)
Range
East of the Rockies (4)
Habitat
Woodlands and forests, especially mesic to swampy bottomlands
Season
Flies April to September (1)
Caterpillar seen June to October (5)
Food
Larvae feed on leaves of alder, ash, birch, elm, hickory, maple, oak, poplar, walnut, willow (1) and other deciduous trees (4).
Life Cycle
Overwinter as pupae in dense silken cocoons.(6)
Remarks
The largest dagger moth in the East, according to Covell. (1)
The caterpillar's hairs can cause skin irritation.
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group (MPG)
Pacific Northwest Moths
BOLD
Works Cited
1.Field Guide to Moths of Eastern North America
Charles V. Covell, Jr. 2005.
2.Peterson First Guide to Caterpillars of North America
Amy Bartlett Wright. 1998. Houghton Mifflin Company.
3.Caterpillars of Eastern North America
David L. Wagner. 2005. Princeton University Press.
4.The Moth Book
W.J. Holland. 1968. Dover.
5.Caterpillars of Eastern Forests
David L. Wagner, Valerie Giles, Richard C. Reardon, Michael L. McManus. 1998. U.S. Dept of Agriculture, Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team.
6.Eastern Forest Insects
Whiteford L. Baker. 1972. U.S. Department of Agriculture · Forest Service.
Contributed by Troy Bartlett on 16 February, 2004 - 12:32pm
Additional contributions by Hannah Nendick-Mason, john and jane balaban, Beatriz Moisset, Robin McLeod, Ethan Kistler, Randy Hardy, Marci Hess, Steve Morris
Last updated 4 August, 2023 - 1:46pm

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