Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada

29 May 2005   8:47PM EST  (top left)
29 May 2005   8:46PM EST  (top center)
21 May 2004   10:48PM EST  (top right)
30 May 2003   8:08PM EST  (bottom left)
16 May 2006   9:26PM EST  (bottom right)
The photos at top left and top center are of the same specimen.

Ancylis subaequana is one of 22 species of Ancylis recorded from the Ottawa area (J. D. Lafontaine, pers. comm., 2001).  My initial identification of Ancylis nubeculana was based on Internet resources.  My thanks to Dr. Jean-François Landry of Agriculture Canada for confirming the identity of the specimen at top right above, which was given to the Canadian National Collection in Ottawa.  This specimen was also included in the All Leps Barcode of Life project of the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario at the University of Guelph.  Some additional information was obtained from Internet resources and from Forbes, William T.M., The Lepidoptera of New York and Neighboring States, Primitive Forms, Microlepidoptera, Pyraloids, Bombyces (Ithaca, New York: Cornell University, 1923).

Ancylis subaequana has a white forewing, lightly shaded with clay-color along the costa and in the outer half of the wing.  The beginning of a clay-colored median fascia is usually faintly visible at the midpoint of the costa, and there are a number of striae along the costa, especially towards the apex.  The basal patch is dark gray, somewhat brownish, usually with a lobe extending upward into the white area towards the costa.  The finger-shaped apex, with a notch below it on the outer margin, usually has a short dark dash or spot.  Forbes (1923) indicates a wingspan of 15 mm.

Forbes (1923) gives no information as to larval host plant, but indicates  the adult Ancylis subaequana flies in June and July.  My own observations of this species to date have all fallen between mid-May and mid-June.

My records to date for Ancylis subaequana (each date representing "the night of") are in the table below: