Moths of North Carolina
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View PDFErebidae Members: Catocala Members: 73 NC Records

Catocala blandula Hulst, 1884 - Charming Underwing

Catocala blandulaCatocala blandulaCatocala blandulaCatocala blandula
Taxonomy
Superfamily:
Noctuoidea		 Family:
Erebidae		Subfamily:
Erebinae		Tribe:
Catocalini		P3 Number:
930851		 MONA Number:
8867.00
Comments: One of 103 species in this genus that occur in North America (Lafontaine and Schmidt, 2010, 2015), 67 of which have been recorded in North Carolina. Included by Barnes and McDunnough (1918) in their Group XVII (also adopted by Forbes, 1954), which feed mainly on members of the Rosaceae; 12 other members of this group (as redefined by Kons and Borth, 2015b) also occur in North Carolina.
Species Status: Specimens collected by Hall (1999) from the Roanoke River floodplain were initially identified as an undescribed subspecies of blandula by L. Gall. However, these have now been tentatively re-assigned to the newly described Catocala aestivalia.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984); Beadle and Leckie (2012)Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Barnes and McDunnough (1918); Forbes (1954); Sargent (1976)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: A medium-sized Underwing, with contrasting pale and dark areas on the forewing and yellow-orange hindwings that have heavy black bands. The median area of the forewing is a light blue-gray and bordered by a large brown patch covering the basal area and extending in a band along the inner margin (Forbes, 1954; Sargent, 1976). A basal dash is present; the antemedian is fairly straight and oblique; and the postmedian is incurved and fairly even below the cell to the fold. The hindwing is yellow-orange with a heavy, complete, black inner loop. Catocala crataegi, mira, pretiosa, and aestivalia are all similar. Blandula differs from crataegi in lacking any green tint in the median area and showing less contrast between the median and basal areas; the subterminal area may also be more extensively shaded with brown (Sargent, 1976). Differs from all of the other species by the antemedian and postmedian either touching in the area along the fold or with only a narrow gap between them (Barnes and McDunnough, 1918).
Wingspan: 40-50 mm (Sargent, 1976)
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution:
County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.
Catocala blandula
Flight Dates:
 High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
 Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
 Piedmont (Pd)
 Coastal Plain (CP)

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