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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) » Triton Dagger Moth - Hodges#9211 (Acronicta tritona)

Species Acronicta tritona - Triton Dagger Moth - Hodges#9211

Classification · Hodges Number · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Food · Life Cycle · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Caterpillar - Acronicta tritona Looking for Caterpillar ID - Acronicta tritona Hodges #9211 - Triton Dagger Moth - Acronicta tritona Hodges #9211 - Triton Dagger Moth - Acronicta tritona Acronicta tritona Triton Dagger - Acronicta tritona Triton Dagger - Acronicta tritona acronicta tritona - Acronicta tritona
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 tritona (Triton Dagger Moth - Hodges#9211)
Hodges Number
9211
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Acronicta tritona – (Hübner, 1818)
* phylogenetic sequence #931432
Numbers
seventy-three species of Acronicta are found in America north of Mexico(1)
Size
wingspan 3.5 - 4 mm
Identification
Adults - narrow black basal streak, a larger black streak (dagger-mark) in the anal angle, and a smaller one near the apex. The postmedian-line is prominent, marked with black scales, and loops outward between the costa and the upper dagger mark, between the two dagger marks, and below the lower dagger mark. The orbicular spot is indistinct, marked by a few dark scales. The reniform spot is more prominent and is filled with dark red-brown scales. There are also dark red-brown scales shading the upper part of the lower dagger-mark. Hindwings are grey-brown, darker toward the margin. The sexes are similar, but the female is darker, especially on the hindwings

Caterpillar - green with a red-brown saddle that is widest at A4 and A5 and split in two over A6 and A7 by a green mid-dorsal patch. (Wagner)
Range
Nova Scotia west to northeastern Alberta, south to Florida and Texas, and in the USA west to Oregon
Habitat
Dry forest with blueberry understory
Food
Larvae feed on cranberry, blueberry and rhododendrons/azaleas (all in family Ericaceae)
Life Cycle
solitary defoliator of blueberry. The single annual brood overwinters in the pupal stage. Adults come to light
See Also
Larva is similar to Acronicta grisea - may be distinguished by host plant as well as darker red-brown stripe of this species.
Print References
Wagner (2)
Lafontaine JD, Schmidt BC (2010) Annotated check list of the Noctuoidea (Insecta, Lepidoptera) of North America North of Mexico. (1)
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group - range map, photos of living and pinned adults
Barcode of Life (BOLD)
E.H. Strickland Entomological Museum - species page - size, range, description, habitat, life cycle
insectimages.org - larva
Moths of Maryland - adult
Moths of Canada - adult
Works Cited
1.Annotated check list of the Noctuoidea (Insecta, Lepidoptera) of North America north of Mexico.
Donald J. Lafontaine, B. Christian Schmidt. 2010. ZooKeys 40: 1–239 .
2.Caterpillars of Eastern North America
David L. Wagner. 2005. Princeton University Press.
Contributed by Hannah Nendick-Mason on 2 October, 2006 - 7:52pm
Additional contributions by Maury Heiman, Randy Hardy, Steve Morris
Last updated 11 February, 2023 - 8:40pm

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