Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada

22 June 2004   9:49PM EST  (top)
22 June 2003  9:55PM EST  (bottom)

Spiramater lutra is one of two species of Spiramater known to occur in the Ottawa area (J.D. Lafontaine, pers. comm., 2001).  My thanks to Dr. J. Donald Lafontaine of Agriculture Canada for confirming my identification of the bottom specimen illustrated above.

The forewing of Spiramater lutra is mostly dark gray, mottled with black and various shades of gray.  The basal, antemedial and postmedial lines are double, scalloped and mostly filled with gray; the am and pm lines are most evident in the lower half of the wing near the inner margin.  In the area between the basal line and the am line, the lower part of the wing is mostly filled with reddish brown.  The blackish claviform spot is obscure, and the orbicular spot, outlined in black and filled mainly with gray, is not obtrusive to the eye.  In contrast, the reniform spot is very noticeable with white rimming the inside of its black outline, and with a small amount of gray filling; in some specimens the outermost white part is faintly tinged with pink.  The st line is whitish, edged with reddish brown along the inner side; in this species, the st line does not have any sharp zigzags.  The area between the pm line and the subterminal line is partly filled with whitish gray, palest near the inner margin.  The hindwing is yellowish gray without any pronounced shading.

According to Handfield (1999), the larvae of Spiramater lutra are reported to feed on a great variety of plants, including various species of huckleberry, sumac, birch, alder, soapberry, willow, corn, plantain, maple, larch, birch, spruce, popular, cherry, dogwood, gooseberry, blueberry and aster. For my general area, he indicates an adult flight season from the end of May into early August.

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