Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada

18 June 2005   9:16PM EST  (top)
7 June 2005   8:42PM EST  (bottom)

My thanks to Dr. Jean-François Landry of Agriculture Canada for identifying the bottom specimen illustrated above, which was collected and given to the Canadian National Collection in Ottawa.  For further information on Nascia acutella, I have relied 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), 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). 

Nascia acutella has a buff to yellow forewing suffused and streaked lengthwise with reddish brown.  There are no discernible lines crossing the wing, not even a row of terminal dots.  The hindwing is yellow and unmarked.  Forbes (1923) indicates a wingspan of 25 mm for this species.

According to Munroe (1976), the host plant for Nascia acutella is unknown, but he suggests the larva probably feeds on grasses or sedges. He notes that the adult moth flies in May and June in northeastern North America.

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