Wing span: 40mm
Flight time: Late May - September
Description. FW light greenish-gray in median area; with blackish, strongly contrasting basal area (within am line) and inner margin (to pm line); blackish shadings beyond pm line along outer margin; slight brownish shading between pm and st lines. HW yellow-orange with black bands; outer band either complete or with separate anal spot. 40-50 mm. H 34: 12. B & Mc 10: 5.
C. pretiosa Lintner is an intriguing moth which is often considered a form of this species, though it seems at least as close to mira to my eyes. Here the pale median FW area is largely whitish and extends to the inner margin, the lower portion of the dark basal area is light, and the pm-st space is largely filled with brownish. This moth was not taken by collectors for many years (from about 1920 to 1968), and was often presumed to be extinct. In 1968, however, J. Muller took two specimens in New Jersey (28 June) which correspond closely to pretiosa (I compared these with pretiosa at Yale University in 1973). Since then, Dale F. Schweitzer has taken another New Jersey specimen (6 July 2974) which clearly approaches pretiosa (fig. 2.5), and Charles Horton has taken a similar individual at Chapel Hill, North Carolina (12 June 1974). The status of this moth is obviously obscure. Is it a species which has remained excessively rare for a long period of time, or is it a form of crataegi or mira which has long been absent, but is now recurring? Rearings of all of the species in this complex may shed light on this matter, and are strongly recommended.
Similar species. C. crataegi may usually be distinguished from both mira and blandula on the basis of its paler median FW area (with greenish tint), and its more uniformly blackish FW shadings in the basal area and along the inner margin. The am and pm lines approach, and may touch one another at the FW inner margin in blandula and most crataegi, but are more widely separated in mira (and pretiosa). C. mira has a deeper orange HW than either crataegi or blandula.
Range. Southern Canada (Manitoba to Nova Scotia) to Florida and west throughout area. (Most of the pretiosa that I have examined have come from New York [Albany], New Hampshire, and Massachusetts.)
Status. Generally uncommon to common over most of its range.
Larval foodplants. Hawthorns (Crataegus ) and apple (Pyrus). Reared on hawthorn (Crataegus spp.) (AEB, SAH, TDS) and apple (P. malus) (JPM).
Notes. Moth rests head-down on tree trunks.
Data from Legion of Night by Theodore Sargent.
Record # | Date | Locale | State | Lat/Lon | Collected By | Count |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
298819 | 2021-07-12 | Inis Grove Park, Ames | Iowa | 42.049221 -93.613299 | Paul Martsching | 1 |
234661 | 2019-07-29 | Wickiup Hill Outdoor Learning Area | Iowa | 42.087352 -91.767107 | Jim Durbin | 1 |
239185 | 2019-07-09 | Inis Grove Park, Ames | Iowa | 42.046946 -93.612282 | Paul Martsching | 1 |
239184 | 2019-07-08 | Inis Grove Park, Ames | Iowa | 42.046946 -93.612282 | Paul Martsching | 1 |
193986 | 2017-07-18 | Wickiup Hill Outdoor Learning Area | Iowa | 42.0876617 -91.767617 | Jim Durbin | 1 |
198993 | 2017-07-10 | Ames, Paul | Iowa | 42.02064 -93.623952 | Paul Martsching | 1 |
175479 | 2016-07-09 | Ames, Paul | Iowa | 42.02064 -93.623952 | Paul Martsching | 1 |
175480 | 2016-07-01 | Ames, Paul | Iowa | 42.02064 -93.623952 | Paul Martsching | 1 |
19033 | 2011-07-02 | Near Fairfield | Iowa | 41.0503 -92.024 | Moni Hayne | 1 |
19035 | 2011-07-02 | Near Fairfield | Iowa | 41.0503 -92.024 | Moni Hayne | 1 |
18913 | 2009-08-01 | Wanatee County Park | Iowa | 42.0094 -91.56623 | Jim Durbin | 1 |
19032 | 2008-08-21 | Linn County, Iowa | Iowa | Location Protected | Jim Durbin | 1 |
19031 | 2008-07-27 | Linn County, Iowa | Iowa | Location Protected | Jim Durbin | 1 |
19030 | 2007-07-12 | Pleasant Creek State Recreation Area, Linn County | Iowa | 42.11952 -91.81215 | Jim Durbin | 1 |
18910 | 2007-06-30 | Wanatee County Park | Iowa | 42.0094 -91.56623 | Jim Durbin | 1 |
18896 | 2005-07-08 | Pleasant Creek State Recreation Area, Linn County | Iowa | 42.11952 -91.81215 | Jim Durbin | 1 |
19029 | 2003-05-15 | Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge | Iowa | 41.5678 -93.2675 | Keith Summerville | 1 |