Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada

19 April 2007   10:17PM EDT  (top)
19 April 2007  (date of moth capture)  (center)
31 March 2006   (date of moth capture)  (bottom)

Lycia rachelae, also known as the Twilight Moth, is one of two species of Lycia recorded from the Ottawa area, and to the best of my knowledge, the two specimens illustrated above represent the first and second records for Ontario. The first was captured by visiting collector J. Delisle at dusk on 31 March 2006; the second was photographed and caught by me shortly after 10 pm on 19 April 2007, and given to the Canadian National Collection in Ottawa.  Information on this species has been obtained from Covell (1984), Handfield (1999) and McGuffin, W.C., "Guide to the Geometridae of Canada (Lepidoptera), II.  Subfamily Ennominae.  2", Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada, no. 101 (Ottawa: 1977).

The wings of Lycia rachelae are translucent, with brownish gray and orange markings.  The veins on both wings are traced in dark gray-brown.  On the forewing, there is a streak of orange scales from the base to the postmedial line.  Antemedial, medial, postmedial and subterminal lines originate as black lines at the costa, becoming gray-brown across most of the wing, and sometimes fading out entirely in the middle of the wing.  Lines in the hindwing are faint to non-existent.  The fringe on both forewing and hindwing is dark brownish gray, preceded by a fine, dark, continuous terminal line.  The thorax has long hairy scales in light and dark gray, with some orange at the top of the head, at the sides and in a streak down the center.  The abdomen is also covered with hairy scales of light and dark gray, with a streak of orange down the center.  McGuffin (1977) indicates a wing expanse of 30 to 37 mm.

According to Handfield (1999), the larva of Lycia rachelae has been reported to feed particularly on poplar and willow, but also on dogwood, buffalo berry, birch, apple, chokecherry, alder, elm, serviceberry and hazelnut. He notes the sole Quebec record, at Schefferville, on 23 May 1989, but does not postulate an adult flight season for the area of Quebec closest to my general area.  On the basis of data from western Canada (Manitoba to British Columbia), McGuffin (1977) cites an adult flight season from mid-March to slightly after mid-May.

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