Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada

29 May 2005   (moth captured at about 1:00AM EST)  (top)
1 June 2005   10:22PM EST  (bottom left)
1 June 2005   (same specimen as in previous photo)  (bottom right)

Mesoleuca ruficillata has a bright white median band with a black basal area and a black patch at the costa near the apex.  The double postmedial line is fine and dark on the inner side, more diffuse and gray on the outer side, forming a tidy series of scallops across the wing.  In the subterminal area, a scalloped white subterminal line is shaded with black along its inner edge at the midpoint and at the anal angle.  The area outside the st line is shaded yellowish or reddish brown.  Discal dots are visible on the forewings as short dark dashes, and appear also on the hindwings, which are white with a gray medial line and terminal border.  The underside of the wings is mainly creamy white with traces of the upperside markings.  Covell (1984) indicates a wingspan from 2.5 to 2.8 cm for this species.

According to Handfield (1999), the larvae of Mesoleuca ruficillata feed on Rubus species (blackberry, raspberry, etc.) and on birch.  He indicates two generations per year for my general area, with adult flight seasons from the later part of May to the end of June, and from early July to about mid-August.

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