|
Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984); Beadle and Leckie (2012) | Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, GBIF, BOLD | Technical Description, Adults: Forbes (1954) | Technical Description, Immature Stages: Forbes (1954); Wagner (2005); Wagner et al. (2011) | |
| Adult Markings: A large, pale-to-warm brown Zale without strong constrasting zones across the wings, although the terminal area is usually grayer than the inner portions of the wing (Forbes, 1954). The basal, antemedian, and median lines are all diffuse but the combined postmedian and subterminal lines are the most conspicuous makings on the wings. The pale portion of this line is formed by the postmedian, with the outer portion often reddish. Zale declarans has a very similar pattern overall but possesses a predominately pale line on the hindwing rather than the contrastingly dark line present in unilineata; the outer margin is also more scalloped in unilineata. In North Carolina, these two species occupy widely separated ranges, with the Black Locusts that unilineata feeds upon generally not present (if present at all) in the maritime forests and coastal fringe sandhills occupied by declarans. |
| Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens. |
| Immatures and Development: Larvae are similar to those of Zale undularis, which also feed on Black Locust. While possibly separable based on several characters, Wagner et al. (2011) recommend that larvae of these species be reared to adulthood in order to determine their identities. |
| Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable only through rearing to adulthood. |