Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada

27 June 2004   9:46PM EST  (left)
18 June 2004   (date of moth capture)  (right)

My initial identification of Saucrobotys fumoferalis was based on Munroe, E., in Dominick, R.B. et al., The Moths of America North of Mexico, Fascicle 13.2A, Pyraloidea Pyralidae (Part) (London: E.W. Classey, 1976).  I have also relied on the Canadian National Collection in Ottawa and on Forbes, William T.M., The Lepidoptera of New York and Neighboring States, Primitive Forms, Microlepidoptera, Pyraloids, Bombyces (Ithaca, New York: Cornell University, 1923).

Saucrobotys fumoferalis has a dark gray forewing, described by Forbes (1923) as "powdery ash gray".  The fine blackish antemedial and postmedial lines are deeply toothed, and generally discernible even in a very dark specimen.  There are traces of a dentate pale line more or less bordering the postmedial line.  The area between this pale line and the outer margin is often darker gray than the rest of the wing, though this feature is not evident in the photos above.  The hindwing is light gray-brown, with a fairly even dark border along the outer margin, often somewhat diffuse and preceded by a pale area.  

According to Munroe (1976), there is some question as to the host plant for Saucrobotys fumoferalis. Munroe indicates the adult moth flies in July in eastern Canada, but Forbes (1923) gives June.

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