Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada

2 September 2002   (moth captured on 1 September 2002)  (top and bottom left)
20 August 2003   9:20PM EST  (center)
12 August 2003   11:44PM EST  (bottom right)

Catocala cara, also known as the Darling Underwing or Bronze Underwing (Covell, 1874), is one of 28 species of Catocala that have been recorded from the Ottawa area (J.D. Lafontaine, pers. comm., 2001). To date, I have observed 19 of these species at my location. Collectively, these are referred to as the underwing moths, for their often-colorful hindwings.

Catocala cara is easily distinguished from other species of Catocala I've observed to date by its deep olive-brown forewing. Covell (1984) describes the color as brown with deep green shading, but my eye is more often caught by the blue to purple sheen evident from some angles and in some lights. The fine black antemedial and postmedial lines are heaviest in the upper third to half of the forewing, and the inward bend of the pm line near the inner margin is also quite clearly marked. The reniform and subreniform spots are much the same color as the rest of the wing, usually with a partial fine black outline for the subreniform spot. The hindwing, when one can persuade the moth to show it, is banded in a deep bright pink and black. My experience with C. cara in front of a camera lens, unfortunately, has more often resulted in photos of wings freshly snapped shut or of blank brick walls. According to Covell (1984), Catocala cara has a wingspan of 7.0 to 8.5 cm.

According to Covell (1984) and Handfield (1999), the larvae of Catocala cara feed on willow and poplar, in particular on black willow. Handfield indicates an adult flight season from the last third of July to early October for my general area. Despite the fact that this species is considered fairly common, it is one I seldom see.

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