Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada

22 May 2004   8:57PM EST  (top left)
25 May 2005   (moth captured on 22 May 2004)  (top right)
16 June 2004   8:35PM EST  (bottom left)
16 June 2004   9:43PM EST  (bottom right)
The two top photos are of the same specimen, as are the two photos at bottom.

Cerma cora is one of two species of Cerma that have been recorded from the Ottawa area (J.D. Lafontaine, pers. comm., 2001).  Several specimens, including the one illustrated in the top two photos above, have been collected and given to the Canadian National Collection in Ottawa.

The forewing of Cerma cora has a striking pattern of white and olive-brown with black lines.  The olive-brown color tends to be more greenish in a very fresh specimen, changing to a more brownish color in older specimens.  There is an area of white right at the base of the wing.  The antemedial and postmedial lines are black, double and filled with white.  The median is mostly white, except for a small olive-brown area at the inner margin just outside the antemedial line.  The orbicular and reniform spots are outlined in black, filled with white.  The very round orbicular spot is sometimes surrounded by a circular area of clear white, as in the bottom photos.  A series of wavy black lines crosses the median, sometimes surrounding the reniform spot, but other times surrounding the orbicular spot.   The jagged, somewhat intermittent subterminal line is black with some white along its outer edge.  A scalloped terminal line of black followed by white precedes the brown fringe streaked with white.  The hindwing is whitish, shaded in gray-brown along most of the outer margin, with a dark terminal line and white fringe.  A large reddish brown tuft of scales protrudes a little less than halfway down the abdomen, usually quite visible even when the wings are closed.  The thorax also has reddish brown scales towards the posterior end. 

According to Handfield (1999), the host plant for Cerma cora is pin-cherry (Prunus pensylvanica). He indicates an adult flight season from the later part of May nearly to the end of June for my general area.

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