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Species Conservula anodonta - Sharp Angle Shades - Hodges#9548

Sharp Angle Shades - Conservula anodonta Sharp Angle Shades - Conservula anodonta small moth - Conservula anodonta 9548 Sharp Angle Shades - Conservula anodonta sharp angle shades - Conservula anodonta Sharp Angle Shades - Hodges#9548 - Conservula anodonta Conservula anodonta 9548 Sharp Angle Shades (Conservula anodonta) - Conservula anodonta
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 Noctuinae (Cutworm or Dart Moths)
Tribe Phlogophorini
Genus Conservula
Species anodonta (Sharp Angle Shades - Hodges#9548)
Hodges Number
9548
Numbers
the only species in this genus in North America listed at All-Leps
Size
wingspan about 30 mm
Identification
Adult: forewing medium brown in basal area, lighter brown in subterminal area, and large dark brown boomerang-shaped patch in median area; a blunt-tipped projection extends from the costa into the sinus of the "boomerang"; subterminal line wavy, with darker shading beyond it; hindwing dirty yellow with dark diffuse PM and subterminal lines, and thin terminal line; outer margins of wings not scalloped
Range
Great Lakes area, east to the Atlantic: New Brunswick to Rhode Island and New York, west to Minnesota and Ontario
Habitat
mixed and coniferous forests; adults are nocturnal and attracted to light and bait
Season
adults fly in July
Food
Cinnamon Fern, Interrupted Fern, Speckled Alder, less interested in Trembling Aspen (Jim Sogaard)
Life Cycle
Larva on fern; larva on Speckled Alder; adult
Remarks
a local and uncommon to rare species with a relatively small geographic distribution and short flight season

one print reference [Checklist of Moths of Algonquin Park, Ontario] gives "Small Angle Shades" as a common name for Conservula anodonta, but that name is not recommended because it is already in widespread use for the European species Euplexia lucipara
See Also
most similar to Brown Angle Shades (Phlogophora periculosa) which is larger (wingspan 42-50 mm), has scalloped wing margins, and a sharp-tipped projection extending from the costa toward the median patch; compare images of both species at CBIF (Brown Angle Shades is also much more common, with a wider distribution and different flight season - August to October)
Internet References
live adult image by Cindy Mead, plus common name reference and photos of related species (Moth Photographers Group)
pinned adult image (All-Leps)
flight season plus life cycle and possible foodplant (Macrolepidoptera of Mont Saint-Hilare Region, McGill U., Quebec)
common name reference (Bill Evans, New York Butterflies)
presence in New York; PDF doc list and collection date (Timothy McCabe, Insect Biodiversity of a Jack Pine Barrens, New York State Museum)
presence in Rhode Island; PDF doc list (Rhode Island Dept. of Environmental Management)
presence in Minnesota; list and flight season (Insects of Cedar Creek, U. of Minnesota)
distribution in Canada list of provinces (U. of Alberta, using CBIF data)