Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada

27 June 2003   10:48PM EST  (top left)
28 May 2005   (moth captured on 26 May 2005)   (top right)
16 June 2005   10:59PM EST  (bottom)

My thanks to Dr. J. Donald Lafontaine of Agriculture Canada for confirming my identification of the specimens at top left and at bottom, which were collected and given to the Canadian National Collection in Ottawa.

Anterastria teratophora appears to present some problems for taxonomists.  In the Hodges (1983) classification, it was placed in the genus Agriopodes, in the noctuid subfamily Acronictinae, but was subsequently transferred into the subfamily Acontiinae, where it appears in Handfield's 1999 Le guide des papillons du Québec with the new name Anterastria teratophora.  In recent years, the classification of Noctuidae has been under review by a number of lepidopterists, and it is likely that there will be significant changes.  In the meantime, I have followed Handfield in accepting the placement of this species in the Eustrotiini tribe of Acontiinae, but have retained the original Hodges number pending the publication of a new checklist at some future date.

Anterastria teratophora is a small noctuid, with a wingspan from 1.9 to 2.5 cm (Covell, 1984).  The forewing is dark brownish gray with a somewhat mottled appearance.  The scalloped antemedial line is often indistinct, but is quite clear in the photo at top right.  The postmedial line is also difficult to distinguish, except for a white bar at the costa and a smaller white mark at the inner margin.  The orbicular and claviform spots have dark outlines, filled with the ground color.  The most obvious feature is the white reniform spot, which encloses several patches of dark scales, and may appear to bleed into the white bar at the costal end of the pm line.  Near the apex, a short jagged white line at the costa marks the end of the subterminal line.  There is a small blackish tuft of scales about a third of the way down the abdomen, most visible in the bottom photo.  The hindwings are grayish brown, darkest near the outer margin.

According to Covell (1984), the larvae of Anterastria teratophora feed on mint and monarda (bee-balm).  Handfield (1999) indicates an adult flight season from early June nearly to mid-July for my general area.

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