Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada

21 April 2004   9:12PM EST  (top left)
8 May 2005   9:03PM EST  (top right)
9 May 2004   8:54PM EST  (center left)
27 April 2004   7:43PM EST  (center right)
26 April 2005   9:59PM EST  (bottom)

My thanks to Dr. J. Donald Lafontaine of Agriculture Canada for confirming my identification of the specimens illustrated at top right and center right above.

Egira dolosa has a dark gray forewing, with pale gray and white markings.  In some specimens, illustrated in the top two photos, the double antemedial line with its pale filling is followed by a light gray band across the median, against which the orbicular and claviform spots are outlined in darker gray.  The outer half of the median is darker gray, with the reniform spot outlined in white and filled in its lower end with near-black.  The postmedial line is inconspicuous, but the white subterminal line is usually quite clear.  In other specimens, as in the center two photos, there is minimal or no pale area in the median, and there are just partial whitish outlines of the orbicular and reniform spots.  Even in these darker specimens, however, the pale subterminal line is clearly visible.  The hindwing is whitish, with slight gray shading towards the outer margin.

According to Handfield (1999), trembling aspen is the principal host plant for the larvae of Egira dolosa, but with other reported host plants including willow, other poplar species, birch and oak. For my general area, he indicates an adult flight season from before mid-April to late June.

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