Species Anicla illapsa - Snowy Dart - Hodges#10903

10903

Anicla illapsa (Walker, 1857)

Euagrotis illapsa

* phylogenetic sequence #933216

one of 15 species in this genus in America north of Mexico.(1)

wingspan 29-35 mm (2)

Adult: forewing light gray to reddish-brown with black speckling; dark shading beyond PM line, especially near costa; reniform spot blackish, often broken into 2 or 3 parts; lines darkest at costa; hindwing white with some gray at apex in male, more along outer margin in female; thoracic collar thin, black.

Shape of valvae consistent with A. illapsa. Lacks blunt spine on the vesica, weak digitus on valvae, and margins on valvae almost parallel that are described for A. forbesi.

New Brunswick to Florida, west to Texas, Nebraska, and Ontario

adults fly from May to October (2 broods)

larvae have been reared on Timothy (Phleum pratense) and probably feed on a variety of other grasses.

* usda.gov USDA plant information

two generations per year

Anicla forbesi has a thick black collar and more uniformly colored forewing

Slippery Dart (Anicla lubricans) has a dirty gray hindwing, and a more southern distribution (doesn't reach Canada or northern tier of states except southern Ohio)

Moth Photographers Group - range map, photos of living and pinned adults.

BOLD - Barcode of Life Data Systems - species account with collection map and photos of pinned adults.

pinned and live adult images by James Adams and Hugh McGuinness respectively (Dalton State College, Georgia)

presence in Florida; list (John Heppner, Florida State Collection of Arthropods)

presence in Texas; list (Dale Clark, Texas)

distribution in Canada list of provinces (U. of Alberta, using CBIF data)