''Catocala praeclara'', the praeclara underwing, 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

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 was first described by Augustus Radcliffe Grote and

Coleman Townsend Robinson Coleman Townsend Robinson (12 January 1838 – 1 May 1872) was an American entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera. He wrote Grote, A.R., & Robinson, C.T. 1867–1868. Descriptions of American Lepidoptera – Nos 1–3. ''Transactions of th ...

in 1866. It is found in North America from

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

west to south-eastern

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, south to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

. 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 38–50 mm. Adults are on wing from August to September in one generation depending on the location. The larvae feed on ''

Amelanchier ''Amelanchier'' ( ), also known as shadbush, shadwood or shadblow, serviceberry or sarvisberry (or just sarvis), juneberry, saskatoon, sugarplum, wild-plum or chuckley pear,A Digital Flora of Newfoundland and Labrador Vascular Plants/ref> is a g ...

'', ''

Crataegus ''Crataegus'' (), commonly called hawthorn, quickthorn, thornapple, Voss, E. G. 1985. ''Michigan Flora: A guide to the identification and occurrence of the native and naturalized seed-plants of the state. Part II: Dicots (Saururaceae–Cornacea ...

'' species (including ''

Crataegus calpodendron ''Crataegus calpodendron'' is a species of hawthorn native to much of the eastern United States and to Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Ca ...

''), ''

Photinia ''Photinia'' () is a genus of about 30 species of small trees and large shrubs, but the taxonomy has recently varied greatly, with the genera ''Heteromeles'', ''Stranvaesia'' and ''Aronia'' sometimes included in ''Photinia''. They are a part of ...

'' species (including ''

Photinia prunifolia ''Photinia prunifolia'' is a species in the family Rosaceae of flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from ...

'', and ''

Photinia melanocarpa ''Aronia melanocarpa'', called the black chokeberry, is a species of shrubs in the rose family native to eastern North America, ranging from Canada to the central United States, from Newfoundland west to Ontario and Minnesota, south as far as Ark ...

'').

Subspecies

*''Catocala praeclara praeclara'' *''

Catocala praeclara manitoba The Manitoba underwing, ''Catocala manitoba'' or ''Catocala praeclara manitoba'', is a moth of the family Erebidae. It is found in Manitoba. The larvae feed on ''Populus'' and '' Salix''. References External links Species info Moths descri ...

'' Beutenmüller, 1908 *''

Catocala praeclara charlottae ''Catocala charlottae'' or ''Catocala praeclara charlottae'' is a moth of the family Erebidae. It is found in Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of ...

'' Brou, 1988

References

External links

* * praeclara Moths of North America Moths described in 1866 {{Catocalini-stub