Species Cucullia strigata - Streaked Hooded Owlet - Hodges#10183

10183

Rancora brucei, Rancora ketchikana, Rancora strigata, Cucullia brucei, Cucullia ketchikana

Rancora was treated as a junior synonym of Cucullia by Poole in 1995 (see Butterflies and Moths of the World)

STRIGATA: from the Latin "striga" (a furrow or groove); in zoology, strigate means having fine close-set grooves or steaks

probably refers to the fine streaks on the forewing, and is the origin of the common name Streaked Hooded Owlet suggested above

Adult: forewing medium gray with fine black streaks along veins in subterminal area, and two distinct sets of streaks along inner margin; reniform and orbicular spots light gray, faint but noticeable against ground color; fringe with whitish triangular spots resembling pale pointed tips of feathers, interspersed by areas of darker scales; hindwing uniformly brownish-gray except for dark gray veins and mostly whitish fringe

Alaskan panhandle and British Columbia to Oregon, west to Colorado, north to Alberta

This species is not on the California Moth Species List at U. of California.

adults fly in spring and summer

The presence of the similar Cucullia serraticornis in Oregon is questionable: on this Oregon State U. page dated October 2001, the synonym Rancora serraticornis is listed as having voucher specimens from Oregon, but in their virtually identical Excel file updated October 2003 and containing the same 22 specimens, Rancora serraticornis is listed as having no specimens from Oregon. Cucullia serraticornis doesn't occur in British Columbia, and is probably absent from Washington and Oregon also (Lafontaine and Troubridge give a range of California and Arizona only on this page)

Cucullia albida forewing lacks two distinct sets of streaks along inner margin, reniform and orbicular spots are virtually invisible, showing no contrast against ground color, and hindwing is more bicolored - dark gray speckling distally, shading to whitish basally

Cucullia serraticornis (=Rancora serraticornis =solidaginis) forewing has blackish shading along inner margin, diffuse dark gray smudging throughout the wing, and probably doesn't occur north of California (see image from Arizona here, and California here)

other Cucullia species lack triangular whitish spots in the forewing fringe and/or have a different pattern of shading and streaking (see pinned adult images of several species at CBIF)

Moth Photographers Group (MPG)

Pacific Northwest Moths

Robert W. Poole's Nearctica

Barcode of Life (BOLD)

pinned adult image and technical description (California Dept. of Food and Agriculture)

distribution in Canada list of provinces (CBIF)

presence in Oregon; Excel doc list 27 specimens in collection, including local voucher specimens (Oregon State U.)

presence in Colorado; citation as the synonym Rancora brucei by Ray Stanford in July 1997 [search on "Rancora"] (Lepidopterists Society Season Summary, U. of Florida)

presence in Utah; list (Joel Johnson, Utah Lepidopterists Society)

synonyms (All-Leps)