Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Wingspan 3.0 cm. Forewing is pale brown to dark gray with a small black reniform spot; hindwing is white. This noctuid is abundant and widely distributed in western North America, particularly in dry forests. Moths fly in late summer. Caterpillars feed on the foliage of alfalfa (Medicago).
Similar species: Platyperigea meralis is darker and occurs in the Rocky Mountain region; Caradrina morpheus (Noctuidae) has large black discal spots and is an exotic Eurasian species accidentally introduced into the Pacific Northwest; Proxenus miranda (Noctuidae) forewing is black-brown, hindwing white, common in wet conifer forests in the Pacific West, caterpillars feed on the foliage of herbaceous plants.
U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/insects/macronw/150.htm
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Page Last Modified: Thursday, 03-Aug-2006 11:39:25 EDT
Menlo Park, CA [caww55]
