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Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada
14 June 2006 11:50PM EST (top left)
22 June 2006 8:38PM EST (top center)
12 July 2004 8:43PM EST (top right)
27 June 2006 9:59PM EST (bottom left and right)
The bottom two photos are of the same specimen.
Epinotia transmissana is one of about 25 species of Epinotia
that have been recorded from the Ottawa area. My thanks to Dr. Jean-François
Landry of Agriculture Canada for identifying the specimen illustrated at top
right above, which was collected and given to the Canadian National Collection
in Ottawa. This specimen has also been included in the All Leps Barcode of
Life project of the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario at the University of
Guelph. Some additional information has been gleaned from Internet
resources and, under the name Epinotia similana, from Forbes, William T.M.,
The Lepidoptera of New York and Neighboring States, Primitive Forms,
Microlepidoptera, Pyraloids, Bombyces (Ithaca, New York: Cornell
University, 1923).
The forewing of Epinotia transmissana has a dark
blackish brown basal area, curved slightly outward along its outer edge.
It is followed by a pair of grayish double striae at the costa, which expand and
merge into a large somewhat triangular white medial patch. When the wings
are closed at rest, the dorsal white patch is a prominent feature. The
outer part of the wing is dark brown with pairs of grayish striae angling
outward from the costa, and a plain patch of dark brown at the inner margin near
the anal angle. At the apex and along the outer margin, the brown is
brighter and the markings are clearer. There is a fine black terminal line
at the base of the fringe. Forbes (1923) indicates a wingspan of 15 mm.
According to Forbes (1923), the larvae of Epinotia
transmissana possibly feed on birch, but I have not found any more recent
information to confirm or contradict this supposition. He indicates that
the adult moth flies in July.
My records to date for Epinotia transmissana (each date
representing "the night of") are in the table below: | 
