Moths of North Carolina
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View PDFErebidae Members: Catocala Members: 89 NC Records

Catocala lineella Grote, 1872 - Little Lined Underwing

Catocala lineellaCatocala lineellaCatocala lineella
Taxonomy
Superfamily:
Noctuoidea		 Family:
Erebidae		Subfamily:
Erebinae		Tribe:
Catocalini		P3 Number:
930860		 MONA Number:
8878.10		 Other Common Name:
Steely Underwing
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. Lineella was included by Barnes and McDunnough (1918) in their Group XX (also adopted by Forbes, 1954), which feed on Oaks. This group originally included amica and jair, with lineella now added as a separate species. At least one undescribed species may eventually be added. Catocala lineella has been treated as a form of amica, but was restored to full species status by Gall (1990), who also considered forms melanotica, aurantiaca, and novangliae of amica as a synonyms of lineella. Gall and Hawks (2010) treated form nerissa as an additional synonym of lineella.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Beadle and Leckie (2012)Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLD                                                                                 
Adult Markings: A medium-sized Underwing, with mottled, dark gray forewings and yellow-orange hindwings that lack a median black band. Grote (1872) described lineella as very similar to Catocala amica, but darker and "powdered with glaucous, bluish- or greenish-gray, and black scales". The curvifascia band that is present in some forms of amica -- at least as a well-defined dark arc rather than a diffuse shade -- is absent in lineella (Barnes and McDunnough, 1918; D.F. Schweitzer, pers. comm.). Catocala jair is usually more uniformly dark (in our populations) and has a straighter, less dentate postmedian line (Barnes and Mcdunnough, 1918).
Structural photos
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 lineellaAlamance Alexander Alleghany Anson Ashe Avery Beaufort Bertie Bladen Brunswick Buncombe Burke Cabarrus Caldwell Camden Carteret Caswell Catawba Chatham Cherokee Chowan Clay Cleveland Columbus Craven Cumberland Currituck Dare Davidson Davie Duplin Durham Edgecombe Forsyth Franklin Gaston Gates Graham Granville Greene Guilford Halifax Harnett Haywood Henderson Hertford Hoke Hyde Iredell Jackson Johnston Jones Lee Lenoir Lincoln Macon Madison Martin McDowell Mecklenburg Mitchell Montgomery Moore Nash New%20Hanover Northampton Onslow Orange Pamlico Pasquotank Pender Perquimans Person Pitt Polk Randolph Richmond Robeson Rockingham Rowan Rutherford Sampson Scotland Stanly Stokes Surry Swain Transylvania Tyrrell Union Vance Wake Warren Washington Watauga Wayne Wilkes Wilson Yadkin Yancey
Flight Dates:
 High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
 Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
 Piedmont (Pd)
 Coastal Plain (CP)

Click on graph to enlarge 		Image showing flight dates by month for High Mountains greater than 4,000 feet, Low Mountains, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain: adults.