Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada

1 June 2005   11:32PM EST

Anticlea multiferata is one of two species of Anticlea that occur in the Ottawa area and, at my location, by far the less common of the two.  Although this is supposely not a rare moth, I have recorded this species only twice, on the same date, at almost the same time, four years apart!

The forewing of Anticlea multiferata is a rich brown, slighly wine-toned, crossed by many parallel, almost straight lines of yellowish white.  The lines in the basal and subterminal areas are a little thicker, and create the impression of paler bands crossing the wing, especially along the outer margin.  In the medial area, the lines are more engulfed by the brown background color, giving the effect of series of parallel tucks taken across the wing.  The hindwing is pale grayish tan.  Covell (1984) indicates a wingspan from 1.9 to 2.5 cm.

According to Handfield (1999), the larvae of Anticlea multiferata feed on willow-herb and prostrate knotweed. He indicates an adult flight season from the later part of May nearly to the end of July for my general area.

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