Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada

5 June 2004   9:26PM EST  (top left)
7 June 2004   10:56PM EST  (top right)
5 June 2004   8:44PM EST  (bottom)
The photos at top left and bottom are of the same specimen.

Mythimna oxygala, formerly known as Aletia oxygala, is superficially similar to several other streaky beige moths in the subfamily Hadeninae, in particular several species of Leucania, some of which are illustrated on this web site.  My thanks to Jeff Crolla of Toronto for pointing me to the gray lines and shading in the middle of the hindwing as a diagnostic feature of Mythimna oxygala.

Mythimna oxygala has a light yellow-tan forewing with a streaky appearance.  The veins are pale, with slight shading in between them that is somewhat more pronounced just below the prominent vein that runs through the center of the wing.  Note the three dark dots forming a triangle in the middle of the outer half of the wing.  The thorax is yellow-tan with a smooth appearance, slightly darker in color towards the front.  The hindwing is whitish, shaded and streaked with gray in the middle, giving it a somewhat dirty appearance.  The hindwing fringe is pale.

According to Handfield (1999), the larvae of Mythimna oxygala have been reported to feed on grasses and chicory. For my general area, he indicates three generations per year, with adult flight seasons from the end of May to early July, from before mid-July to about the beginning of August, and from early August to late September.  The data accumulated thus far for my location, however, suggest two generations, one in June and a second in August to early September.

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