''Acronicta insularis'', the cattail caterpillar (when referring to the larva) or Henry's marsh moth (when referring to the adult), is a
moth 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
Gottlieb August Wilhelm Herrich-Schäffer in 1868. It is found from coast to coast throughout the United States and southern
Canada (
Ontario,
Quebec,
New Brunswick,
Nova Scotia,
British Columbia,
Alberta,
Saskatchewan and
Manitoba).
[
The wingspan is 35–40 mm. Adults are on wing from April to September.
The larvae feed on '']Typha
''Typha'' is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have a variety of common names, in British English as bulrush or reedmace, in American English as reed, cattail, or punks, in A ...
'' and '' Polygonum'' species, as well as various grasses and sedges, poplar and willow.
''Acronicta insularis'' was formerly called ''Simyra insularis''. In 2015, the genus ''Simyra'', along with ''Oxicesta'' and ''Eogena'', were moved to ''Acronicta'' based on phylogenetic analysis.[
The MONA or Hodges number for ''Acronicta insularis'' is 9280.][
]
Subspecies
*''Acronicta insularis insularis''
*''Acronicta insularis julitae''
References
Simyra (moth)
Moths of North America
Moths described in 1868
{{Acronictinae-stub