scientific name Apamea lignicolora (Gn.)
common name Wood-coloured Quaker
habitat Grassy edges and clearings in wooded or shrubby areas.
seasonality Adults have been collected in Alberta from late June to early September.
identification A medium-sized (4.5-5.0 cm wingspan) mottled rusty red-brown moth. The forewings are red-brown with darker patches in the median and terminal areas. There is short basal dash, and two blackish patches on the terminal area divided by a pale w-mark. Antemedian and post-median lines pale, the later curving inward near upper margin. The orbicular and reniform spots are indistinct, marked only by a few paler scales. Fringe checkered red and dark brown. Hindwings sooty brown, with a faint dark discal mark and red-brown fringe. Antennae simple; sexes similar. Male genitalia with ampullae strongly developed, and digitus perhaps the largest in genus. Basal hair pencils present on the abdomen. The strong W-mark separating two darker terminal patches separates lignicolora from other red-brown Apamea, i.e. vultuosa, dubitans and scoparia.
life history Poorly known. Lignicolora is nocturnal and comes to light. The adults are known to hide during the day under loose bark of trees.
conservation Fairly common and no reasons for concern.
diet info No Alberta data; elsewhere reported to feed on quack grass (Agropyron repens) and other grasses.
range Nova Scotia west to Vancouver Island; south to Arizona and Iowa. In Alberta found mainly throughout the dryer southern grasslands region, north nearly to Edmonton.
taxonomic hierarchy
quick link http://entomology.museums.ualberta.ca/searching_species_details.php?s=5302
Comments are published according to our submission guidelines. The EH Strickland Entomological Museum does not necessarily endorse the views expressed.
| |