Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada

8 May 2005   11:21PM EST  (top left)
9 May 2005 (moth captured on 8 May 2005)  (top right and bottom)
All photos are of the same specimen.

Cladara limitaria is one of two species of Cladara that I know to have been recorded in the Ottawa area (J.D. Lafontaine, pers. comm., 2001).  At my location, where the woods are dominated by deciduous trees with relatively few evergreens, this species is less often encountered than Cladara atroliturata (Hodges 7639).

The forewing of Cladara limitaria is whitish, crossed by black lines, and with some black stitching along a few of the veins.  The postmedial line extends outward below the costa in a somewhat angular shape around the discal spot, and then curves smoothly inward in the lower half of the wing.  When the wings are closed at rest, the shape of this line is somewhat reminiscent of a handlebar moustache (top right photo).  The area immediately outside the pm line is heavily shaded in a brownish greenish gray.  There is also some brownish gray shading in the inner half of the median, and mottling the rest of the wing.  The hindwing is pale whitish gray.  Covell (1984) indicates a wingspan from 2.1 to 2.8 cm.

According to Handfield (1999), the larvae of Cladara limitaria generally feed on coniferous trees, especially balsam fir, white spruce and tamarack or larch, but may also feed on other needled evergreens and some deciduous trees and shrubs.  He indicates an adult flight season from early April to mid-June for my general area.

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