Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada

8 June 2004   12:44AM EST

My thanks to Dr. J. Donald Lafontaine of Agriculture Canada for confirming my identification of the specimen illustrated above, which was collected and given to the Canadian National Collection in Ottawa.

Hydrelia condensata is a small geometrid, rather dainty in appearance, with a wingspan less than 2 cm.  The ground color of both forewing and hindwing is white.  The basal area of the forewing is dull brownish dark gray to black, followed by a band of white punctuated by the small black discal dot.  After the white band is a wider band of brownish dark gray to black, with an irregular shape to its outer edge, and narrowest in width at the inner margin.  This dark band is preceded and followed by wavy dark lines in the white median area and in the white subterminal area.  The pattern of the lines and bands is largely repeated on the hindwing, but the lines are paler and more diffuse.  The head and thorax are dark, but the abdomen is pearly yellowish white.

According to Handfield (1999), the host plant for Hydrelia condensata is unknown. He indicates an adult flight season from the later part of May nearly to mid-July for my general area.

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