Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada

26 July 2004   9:37PM EST  (top left)
9 July 2003   10:16PM EST  (top right)
16 July 2003   8:36PM EST  (bottom)

Lacinipolia vicina is one of seven species of Lacinipolia that have been recorded from the Ottawa area (J.D. Lafontaine, pers. comm., 2001), of which six are illustrated on this website. My thanks to Dr. J. Donald Lafontaine of Agriculture Canada for confirming my identification of the bottom specimen illustrated above.

Lacinipolia vicina has a gray forewing with shades of reddish brown and dark gray to near black.  The basal area is pale gray above a black basal dash, with a basal line that extends outward in a narrow loop near its midpoint. The antemedial and postmedial lines are traced in black with pale grayish filling.  The median is shaded in darker brownish gray, with a streak of reddish brown in the area of a sharp black triangle that forms a claviform wedge extending outward from the am line to touch the pm line.  The angled oval orbicular spot and the reniform spot are outlined in black with brownish gray filling. The area between the pm line and the irregular whitish subterminal line is gray, and there are some streaks and shades of dark gray with a hint of brown extending inward from the st line in the lower half of the wing.  Most of the area beyond the st line is dark gray, near black towards the anal angle.  Also near the anal angle is a brighter white mark in the st line, forming a highlight at the point of the dark triangular shade pointing inward from the outer margin. The hindwing is whitish with a narrow gray shade along much of the outer margin, and veins picked out in gray.

According to Handfield (1999), the host plant for Lacinipolia vicina is apparently unknown, although larvae have been raised on clover, dandelion and alfalfa. He indicates an adult flight season from the beginning of July nearly to mid-August for my general area.

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