Identification
Adult: forewing yellowish-tan with dark brown median shade and subterminal line; very diffuse blackish subreniform spot, often with irregular outline; two blackish blotches in terminal area; pairs of small black dashes on veins form AM and PM lines; hindwing solid dark gray with pale fringe
[adapted from description by Charles Covell]
Larva: body light or dark brown to gray or steel blue, often with middorsal, subdorsal, and spiracular stripes; middorsal stripe often reddish brown to rusty; dorsum usually marked with vague dark chevrons, darkest on A8; head brown with darker mottling and dark bar to either side of midline; penultimate instar has broad creamy spiracular stripe, broken middorsal stripe that is thickest between segments, and subdorsal stripe composed of whitish spots
[adapted from description by David Wagner et al]
genitalia
Range
across southern Canada and northern United States, south in the east to Georgia (in mountains)
Habitat
mixed and deciduous forests and woodlots; adults are nocturnal and come to light and bait
Season
adults fly from September to November, and again from February to May (April to June in the north)
larvae usually in June and July; sometimes as early as April
Food
larvae feed on leaves of alder, apple, basswood, birch, cherry, fir, hawthorn, hemlock, hickory, hornbeam, maple, oak, pine, spruce, willow, and many other woody plants
Life Cycle
one generation per year; overwinters as an adult
See Also
Bethune's Pinion (L. bethunei) forewing is paler (off-white with yellowish shading) and has fainter subreniform spot
light form of
Dimorphic Pinion (
L. patefacta) forewing has less prominent markings (appears "washed out"), and subreniform spot is sharper-edged with a more regular outline
(
compare images of all 3 species at CBIF)
light form of Hemina Pinion (L. hemina) lacks noticeable subterminal line, and has sharper subreniform spot
(compare photos of these and other species by Jim Vargo at
MPG, and at
U. of Alberta using CBIF images)
Internet References
live adult images plus description, foodplants, flight season (Lynn Scott, Ontario)
live adult image and other info (A. Sinclair, Ontario)
14 pinned adult images and collection site map (All-Leps)
description of larva plus distribution, foodplants, seasonality, remarks (David Wagner
et al, Owlet Caterpillars of Eastern North America, U. of Connecticut)
live larva image plus common name reference [Nameless Pinion] (Chris Maier, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, forestryimages.org)
live larva image plus description, foodplants, seasonality (David Wagner and Valerie Giles, Caterpillars of Eastern Forests, USGS)
common name reference [Innominate Pinion], plus foodplants and flight season (Ohio State U.)
distribution in Canada list of provinces (U. of Alberta, using CBIF data)
