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Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada
9 July 2004 1:56AM EST (left)
18 July 2003 10:26PM EST (right)
Acrobasis indiginella is one of 20 or more species of Acrobasis
recorded from the Ottawa area (J. D. Lafontaine, pers. comm., 2001). Many
of these are difficult or impossible to distinguish on the basis of appearance
alone. My thanks to Dr. Jean-François Landry of Agriculture Canada for
confirming my identification of the specimen at left 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.
For additional information on Acrobasis indiginella, I
have consulted Neunzig, H. H., 1986, Pyraloidea: Pyralidae (in part) in
Dominick, R. B., et al., The Moths of America North of Mexico,
fasc. 15.2, and 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 Acrobasis indiginella is pale gray
dusted with white, and with contrasting darker gray to black lines and other
markings. The basal area is slightly shaded with reddish brown to
ochre. The lowest point of a blackish triangle at the costa about
one-third of the way out from the base extends into an outward-curved black line
that extends to the midpoint of the inner margin. Inside the curve,
another blackish line, this one curved inward and much more diffuse, encloses a
shade of light ochre to reddish brown. The postmedial line is
white-filled, with black shades on both sides of it. In the median, the
black shade extends almost all the way across the median at the inner
margin. In the subterminal area, the black shade extends outward from the
pm line at the costa to form a triangular shape. In the middle of the
median, a short black discal bar can be seen.
According to Neunzig (1986), the larva of Acrobasis indigella
feeds on members of the Rosaceae, including apple, quince, cherry, plum,
hawthorn and others. He indicates a single generation per year in Canada, with an adult flight season from
late June through July.
My records to date for Acrobasis indiginella (each date
representing "the night of") are in the table below: |
