Moths of North Carolina
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Catocala Members:
69 NC Records

Catocala blandula Hulst, 1884 - Charming Underwing

Taxonomy
Superfamily: Noctuoidea Family: ErebidaeSubfamily: ErebinaeTribe: CatocaliniP3 Number: 930851.00 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 Photographs: 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.
Flight Dates:
 High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
 Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
 Piedmont (Pd)
 Coastal Plain (CP)

Click on graph to enlarge
Habitats and Life History
Habitats:
Larval Host Plants: Larvae feed on Apple, Crabapple, Hawthorn, and probably Serviceberry (Wagner et al., 2011) - View
Wikipedia
See also Habitat Account for Montane Rosaceous Thickets
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status:
Natural Heritage Program Ranks: G5 S4
State Protection: Has no legal protection, although permits are required to collect it on state parks and other public lands.
Comments:

 Photo Gallery for Catocala blandula - Charming Underwing

Photos: 13

Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2023-07-27
Buncombe Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: tom ward on 2022-08-01
Buncombe Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: tom ward on 2022-07-23
Buncombe Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: tom ward on 2022-07-10
Buncombe Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: tom ward on 2022-07-10
Buncombe Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Richard Teper on 2022-06-26
Avery Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: tom ward on 2022-06-12
Buncombe Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: tom ward on 2021-07-19
Buncombe Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: tom ward on 2021-06-25
Buncombe Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Owen McConnell on 2019-06-17
Graham Co.
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Recorded by: David L. Heavner on 2019-06-16
Buncombe Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Bo Sullivan on 2015-06-15
Ashe Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Bo Sullivan on 2015-06-15
Ashe Co.
Comment: