Species Calyptra canadensis - Canadian Owlet - Hodges#8536

8536

Calyptra canadensis (Bethune)

Orig. Comb: Calpe canadensis Bethune, 1865

the only species in this genus in North America listed at All-Leps

uncommon in the south; locally common in the north

wingspan 33-40 mm

larva length to 35 mm

Adult: forewing light brown with darker brown bands, pointed apex, and angular outer margin; PM line sharp, nearly straight, slanting from apex to inner margin; dark scaling along veins; note two scale tufts on inner margin, the basal tuft forming a prominent lobe, and the distal one a small sharp point; hindwing grayish-brown; antennae bipectinate in both sexes

[adapted from description by Charles Covell (1)]

Caterpillar: white with scattered black spots along the back; broad broken black stripe along each side. Head yellow with three black spots on each side. To 3.5 cm (2)

Map - Nova Scotia to North Carolina in mountains, west to Texas, north to Saskatchewan - occasionally straying to Alberta

mesic and wet meadows; edges and clearings; adults are nocturnal and come to light

adults fly from June to September in the south; July and August in the north (Quebec)

larvae from May to ?

larvae feed on meadow-rue (Thalictrum spp.)

The adults can pierce the skin of large animals with their barbed proboscis and feed on blood. (lacking citation)

one generation per year in the north

Life cycle images:

1.larva 2.larva 3.larva 4.pupa 5.adult

Curve-lined Owlet (Phyprosopus callitrichoides) forewing has similar color and pattern but PM line is pale, apex has whitish shading, and hindwing is pale brownish-yellow (compare adult images or both species by Jim Vargo at MPG); Curve-lined Owlet also has a southern distribution (doesn't occur in Canada), the moth is smaller, and the larva is very different

Wagner, p.370 (2)

Moth Photographers Group - MPG

Strickland Entomological Museum - U. of Alberta