Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada

26 April 2005   9:46PM EST  (top left)
14 April 2005   10:24PM EST  (top right)
4 May 2004   8:06PM EST  (center left)
17 April 2005   7:20PM EST  (center right)
23 April 2004   9:43PM EST  (bottom left)
16 April 2005   11:59PM EST  (bottom right)

Orthosia alurina, also known as the Gray Quaker, is one of five species of Orthosia that have been recorded from the Ottawa area (J.D. Lafontaine, pers. comm., 2001), all of which are illustrated on this website.  Several of these species are quite variable in appearance, an issue complicated by the frequent occurrence of worn specimens and the propensity of the forewing color and pattern to be obscured by reflections from flash photography. My thanks to Dr. J. Donald Lafontaine and Mr. J.T. Troubridge of Agriculture Canada for their patience and forbearance in identifying a number of specimens that I found too confusing, including that illustrated at top right.

Orthosia alurina has a brownish gray forewing, heavily overlain with reddish brown shading.  The lines and spots are often obscure or, at best, subtly expressed, with the exception of a reddish brown median band or shade, and the pale subterminal line edged with reddish brown along its inner side.  When visible, the postmedial line is a series of dark dots at the veins.  The pale outlines of the orbicular and reniform spots are easy to see in the photo at top left, but barely noticeable in the photos at center.  The reniform spot has dark filling in its lower end.  Even in the darkest specimens, the area outside the subterminal line is usually somewhat paler than the rest of the wing.  The hindwing is pale grayish brown with some grayish shading preceding the pale fringe; just a corner of the hindwing is visible in the photo at bottom left.  Covell (1984) indicates a wingspan from 3.1 to 4.0 cm for this species.

According to Handfield (1999), the larvae of Orthosia alurina are reported to have been reared on chokecherry, black cherry, basswood, serviceberry and various other trees and shrubs. For my general area, he indicates an adult flight season from very early April into the beginning of May.

My records to date for Orthosia alurina (each date representing "the night of", and excluding those for which I am not confident of the identification) are in the table below: