''Acronicta impressa'', the impressive dagger moth or willow dagger moth, is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

of the family

Noctuidae The Noctuidae, commonly known as owlet moths, cutworms or armyworms, are a family of moths. They are considered the most controversial family in the superfamily Noctuoidea because many of the clades are constantly changing, along with the other f ...

. The species was first described by Francis Walker in 1856. It is found from western

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

to north-western

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

is about 38 mm. Adults are on wing from early to midsummer depending on the location. Recorded food plants include bitterbrush, rose, aspen, poplar and willow.

Subspecies

*''Acronicta impressa impressa'' *''Acronicta impressa emaculata''

References

External links

* * *
"''Acronicta impressa'' Walker, 1856"
''Pacific Northwest Moths''.

''Macromoths of Northwest Forests and Woodlands''. US Geological Survey. Acronicta Moths of North America Moths described in 1856 {{Acronictinae-stub