Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada

27 August 2005   (date of moth capture)

Anathix puta, or Puta Sallow, is one of two species of Anathix known to occur in the Ottawa area (J.D. Lafontaine, pers. comm., 2001), and one that I have seen only once at my location despite the fact that it is apparently quite common.  My thanks to Mr. James T. Troubridge of Agriculture Canada for identifying the specimen illustrated above.

The forewing of Anathix puta appears reddish brown overall, with a rather mottled appearance.  Basal, antemedial and postmedial lines are quite indistinct, sometimes appearing only as smudges of pale grayish tan.  The orbicular spot and reniform spots may also be indistinct, but in the specimen above they have clear pale outlines, and the lower end of the reniform spot can be seen to be filled with near-black.  Between the spots, a band of darker brown crosses the median from costa to inner margin.  A distinguishing feature for this species (and also for Anathix ralla (Hodges 9961)) is a row of black dots in the subterminal area, marking the central part of the pale subterminal line.  There is more dark brown shading between this row of dots and the brown fringe.

According to Handfield (1999), the larvae of Anathix puta are reported to feed on trembling aspen. He indicates an adult flight season from early August into early October for my general area.

My sole record to date for Anathix puta (each date representing "the night of") is in the table below: