Butterflies and Moths of North America

collecting and sharing data about Lepidoptera


Homoglaea californica (Smith, 1891)


Family: Noctuidae
Subfamily: Noctuinae
Identification: A mousy gray-brown moth with a pattern of light spots and lines. The forewing is short and stout. It is nearly uniform dull dark gray-brown in most Pacific Northwest populations, although a variety of lighter forms are known from further south in California. Some of these have gray suffusion on the outer wing, darkly suffused transverse lines with pale filling, and pale veins across the median area. The lines are dark brown with light brown filling, most evident as the filling against the dark background. The antemedial line is moderately zigzagged, angled toward the outer margin from the costa with a bulge toward the outer margin below 1A+2A. The median line is dark brown, diffuse and usually entirely evident. The postmedial line is slightly scalloped, drawn sharply toward the base on the costa, oriented transverse to the axis of the wing from below the cost to M3, and then angled toward the base to the posterior margin. The subterminal line is light, similar to the filling of the other lines, and slightly
Wing Span: 3.0-3.2 cm
Life History:
Flight: October and November and late January through May
Caterpillar Hosts: Cottonwoods (Populus spp.) in the Salicaceae.
Adult Food:
Habitat: his species is endemic to the West Coast. It is restricted to cottonwood forests in the riparian zone along creeks and rivers at low elevations both west and east of the Cascades. It may be locally common in the proper habitat.
Range: The range of this moth is restricted to California outside of the Northwest. It occurs south to near the border with Mexico.
Conservation:
NCGR:
Management Needs:
Taxonomy Notes: None.
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