Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada

17 April 2005   9:58PM EST  (top left)
1 April 2005   (moth captured on the night of 30 March 2005)  (top right)
28 March 2005   11:24PM EST  (center left)
31 March 2005   10:58PM EST  (center right)
27 March 2005   9:57PM EST  (bottom left)
13 April 2005   12:15AM EST  (bottom right)

Eupsilia morrisoni is one of four species of Eupsilia that have been recorded from the Ottawa area (J.D. Lafontaine, pers.comm., 2001).

Eupsilia morrisoni has a brown forewing, sometimes fairly light, sometimes darker, sometimes with a slight reddish cast, and usually dusted with dark scales.  Most lines are whitish, sometimes with a darker brown border on the inner side: a slightly curved basal line, a fairly straight antemedial line often whitish along the inner side, a slightly sinuous postmedial line, and a somewhat jagged subterminal line that is often accompanied by a brownish shade.  The median area is sometimes slightly darker than the rest of the wing.  The orbicular spot is not evident.  The reniform spot is most noticeable as a thin white crescent, which marks the outer part of its outline; it has a dark gray spot in the filling at the lower end.  The darker brown median band is usually quite faint.  The hindwing is grayish brown with a pale fringe.  According to Covell (1984), the wingspan ranges from 3.5 to 4.0 cm.

The larvae of Eupsilia morrisoni feed on birch, elm, maple, oak, cherry and apple (Handfield, 1999).  According to Handfield, this species overwinters as an adult, with flight seasons in my general area from the end of March into the second half of May, and from mid-September into the second half of October.

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