''Catocala cara'', the darling underwing, is an moth of the family

Erebidae The Erebidae are a family of moths in the superfamily Noctuoidea. The family is among the largest families of moths by species count and contains a wide variety of well-known macromoth groups. The family includes the underwings ('' Catocala'') ...

. The

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

was first described by

Achille Guenée Achille Guenée (sometimes M.A. Guenée; 1 January 1809 – 30 December 1880) was a French lawyer and entomologist. Biography Achille Guenée was born in Chartres and died in Châteaudun. He was educated in Chartres, where he showed a very e ...

in 1852. It can be found in the United States east of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

; it occurs west at least to

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

and north at least to

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. It also ranges into southern Canada, but only barely so.

Description and ecology

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 70–85 mm. The forewings are dark purplish brown above, and light cream below. The hindwings have a deep scarlet-pink ground color with a pattern of two clean

concentric In geometry, two or more objects are said to be concentric, coaxal, or coaxial when they share the same center or axis. Circles, regular polygons and regular polyhedra, and spheres may be concentric to one another (sharing the same center point ...

blackish bands per wing, one through the midwing and one along the pale outer margin. The hindwing base is heavily covered in dark hairs; at a casual glance it may thus appear as if at the center of the dark bands there is a black spot or streak. As in many relatives, the foreleg tibia of this species possess no spines, while the tarsi carry three rows of spines.Nelson & Loy (1983) The adult moths flies from June to October depending on the location. The

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

s feed on ''

Populus ''Populus'' is a genus of 25–30 species of deciduous flowering plants in the family Salicaceae, native to most of the Northern Hemisphere. English names variously applied to different species include poplar (), aspen, and cottonwood. The we ...

'' (poplar and cottonwood) and ''

Salix Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...

'' (willow) species, especially

black willow ''Salix nigra'', the black willow, is a species of willow native to eastern North America, from New Brunswick and southern Ontario west to Minnesota, and south to northern Florida and Texas. Description ''Salix nigra'' is a medium-sized decid ...

(''S. nigra'').

Classification

This moth is placed in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Catocalinae The Catocalinae are a subfamily of noctuoid moths, placed in family Noctuidae. In the alternative arrangement, where the Noctuidae are reduced to the core group around the Noctuinae, the present lineage is abolished, the upranked Catocalini bei ...

, either of the owlet moth

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

, Noctuidae, or – if the Noctuidae are circumscribed more strictly – of family

. Within the Catocalinae, it belongs to

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

Catocalini The Catocalini are a tribe of moths in the family Erebidae. Adults of many species in the tribe are called underwing moths due to their vividly colored hindwings that are often covered by contrastingly dark, drab forewings. Taxonomy The tribe is ...

and – if the Noctuidae are circumscribed widely –

subtribe Subtribe is a taxonomic category ranking which is below the rank of tribe and above genus. The standard suffix for a subtribe is -ina (in animals) or -inae (in plants Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plant ...

Catocalina. The former

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

''C. c. carissima'', which occurs to the south of the darling underwing, is now again considered to be a valid species ''

Catocala carissima ''Catocala carissima'', the carissima underwing, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species can be found from Florida through Georgia (U.S. State), Georgia to Texas. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of ''Catocala cara''. Refere ...

'' (carissima underwing); this also includes the supposed species ''C. silvia'', which actually is merely a

form Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens. Form also refers to: *Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter data ...

with no formal

taxonomic Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

standing.

References

External links

cara Cara or CARA may refer to: Places * Čara, a village on the island of Korčula, Croatia * Cara, a village in Cojocna Commune, Cluj County, Romania * Cara Island, off the west coast of Argyll, Scotland * Cara Paraná River, Colombia * Cara Sucia ...

Moths of North America Moths described in 1852 {{Catocalini-stub