A parade of Catocala moths

[billgarthe]

Here is a closer view/comparison. It was caught in north central Illinois.

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[Trehopr1]

Thank you Bill for the comparison photograph.

I zoomed in on the lower specimens forewing "wing pattern" and I can see many points where certain markings, line squiggles, blank cells are all pretty much in the same place except that it is a VERY melanic appearing individual.

It could be that perhaps it's diet as a larvae was on something a bit different for the species or the nutrient contents were richer thus producing this dark one.

Marvelously different for the species.

I imagine that trying to put together a Mona fascicle on these moths (just for the eastern half of the US) could prove to be very daunting for anyone because of variations within species, notable forms, and even possible hybridization of some species.

A tough subject indeed....

[Trehopr1]

Here is a lovely medium-sized species which is
found in our upper northeast region of the US.
Some western records exist as well and are
associated mostly with the Rocky mountains
and nearby ranges.

The Ribbed or Briseis underwing (Catocala briseis)
is a very nice boldly marked/patterned species.

This particular specimen hails from Michigan and
was acquired from an old collection. I have never
encountered it here in northern Illinois and I'm
unaware of any collector friends having found it
here.

[evra]

Although I've never taken C. briseis, I have the very similar C. grotiana, which I used to think was special until I found the spot for them, where I had a couple hundred to my lights in one night, along with dozens of C. hermia and relicta. I still think grotiana is one of the prettiest North American Catocala though, as not many species have both nice forewings and hindwings, and fresh females are particularly striking.

[billgarthe]

I once caught two in my backyard here in north central IL. Not seen any since. Oddly, it was the same year we had a relicta outbreak and I nabbed dozens at three locations. Sent many of them to my friends who never see relicta bc they’re too far south. Every 5-10 years, good numbers of northern Cats pop up here in IL.

[mothman55]

Breisis is another favourite, and we are fortunate to see a few every year here in Southern Ontario. The forewings can be quite variable from very dark grey to those with wide whitish bands, although I have never seen one like John K posted with mostly white forewings. Something to hope to see someday in my backyard.

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[mothman55]

And the relicta posted by Trehopr1, quite unique. I don't believe there is a form name for that one, believe it is considered normal form, although it is far from normal. I have a few that are also normal form and somewhat dark, this is as close as I can come to Trehopr1's.

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[Trehopr1]

Wonderful series of C. briseis mothman55 showing the wonderful variation that occurs !

The first and second relicta in your photograph are certainly quite unique in their own right. Some wonderful self-collected specimens....

[Trehopr1]

Hey Billg,

Very nice to hear that you have actually picked up a couple of specimens of C. briseis here. I don't know anyone else that has....

Could they have been strays ?
Were their colors too fresh to have been that so, maybe it is just rarely encountered ?

[billgarthe]

Both were nearly A1, came to my sugared trees and, imo, freshly eclosed. I’ll have to get out a pic later.

[billgarthe]

Here’s that pic.

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[Trehopr1]

Very nice captures indeed Billg !

Yep, they look fresh hatch. Not strays....

Don't know of anyone else who has encountered the species here in Illinois so, those may be important examples. I suppose if I ever get to the Natural History survey in Champaign I will look to see if there are any examples there.

[Trehopr1]

Our Youthful Underwing (Catocala subnata) is a
large (80-90mm) species with a yellow/orange
appearance to its hindwings. In my general area
it remains an infrequent visitor to light or bait.
Been a few years since I've encountered one....



The similarly sized yet, much more common
Catocala neogama is easily confused with this one.

[Trehopr1]

Here are a couple more of my Tearful Underwing
(Catocala lacrymosa) captures featuring that
"marbled" appearance which only shows itself
periodically here and there. Quite noticeable
against the general torrent of "typical" ones
that I've encountered.

[Trehopr1]

Here we have a smaller catocala species (55-60 mm)
known as the Serene Underwing (Catocala serena).
As with most catocala it has one generation a year.

I have found it to be an infrequent visitor in my region.
A delightful find when in good condition.

[Trehopr1]

One of my more frequently encountered species is
Judith's Underwing (Catocala judith). The wingspan
is 45-55mm. This small black species was named by
Herman Strecker in 1874.

Although, somewhat common at times I have always
found it difficult to retain very many choice and/or
clean examples. The black hindwings get very easily
marred, scratched or worn in a very short amount of
time seemingly....

[vabrou]

Seems like I hadn't noticed this thread. Here is the Holotype male of Catocala umbrosa Brou and the female Allotype.

The TYPE locality of this species is my home location AESS the Abita Entomological study site, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana. Though it can be found over the eastern half of the USA. This species was mistaken for over 150 years as a form of Catocala ilia. In the original description I also designated hundreds of PARATYPES from the states of Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

I also listed 3 males and 6 females Paratypes for Quebec, Canada which were among museum specimens I found when working on this species, but these were subsequently determined to be specimens with phony labels placed in the Florida State Collection of Arthropods by an idiot who lived in Quebec Canada, but spent months every year in Florida and his mislabeled specimens were most probably actually captured in Florida.
Here is an old photo from 17 years ago (2007) of me holding one of 10 drawers of mostly Paratypes I had of C. umbrosa at that time.

I formerly described C. umbrosa (2002) twenty-two years ago. This species was previously one of 8 names listed as forms of C. ilia. I captured thousands of both C. ilia and C. umbrosa here at my home (Brou, 2002) and illustrated these species have one annual brood but there is a 10-day difference when the peak of each annual brood occurs. Also, no one ever looked at the genitalia and this was also illustrated in (Brou, 2002) that each species has unique and very different male genitalia. In 2002, I had been capturing C. umbrosa for the previous 34 years before I had enough data to publish about this cryptic underwing.

[vabrou]

Here is another species considered a form of Catocala agrippina for over a century, which I also described in scientific literature in 1985. Here too the species was distinct in both maculation and genitalia, differing from C. agrippina.. Paratypes of both male (bottom) and female (middle) of Catocala atocala Brou are attached. After I captured around 100 adults, along with C. agrippina at the same location I realized it was not a form of agrippina. At that time, very few specimens of it existed anywhere. It was pictured a century ago in Barnes, W.M. and J. McDunnough 1918. Illustrations of the North American species of the genus Catocala. Mem. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. New Series, Vol. III, part 1. 47 pp. XXII plates, both color and B&W. I chose the species name 'atocala' which obviously is the genus name minus the letter 'C', no particular reason, I was much younger then. I had captured this new species for 15 years prior to describing it. Also attached a pair (male and female) C. atocala photographed together in one 35mm film image (upper image).

[vabrou]

Here is another not often encountered smaller species of Catocala messalina, image of male attached from Kisatchie National Forest in Louisiana, USA. I had captured 55 specimens when I published a one-page species account on this species in Louisiana in 2003.

[vabrou]

Here is another interesting one Catocala olivia Hy. Edw. which has a large dark brown patch on the upper forewings. This species in recent decades has been synonymized under Catocala alabama Grote pictured here male (middle) and female (upper). All of them taken here at my home, the *AESS. It appears that I have the largest series of C.olivia in North America.