Catocala allusa
kah-TOCK-uh-lahmmal-LEW-suh
Hulst, 1884


Catocala allusa, British Columbia

This site has been created by Bill Oehlke at oehlkew@islandtelecom.com
Comments, suggestions and/or additional information are welcomed by Bill.

TAXONOMY:

Superfamily: Noctuoidea
Family: Noctuidae
Group: Noctuinina
Subfamily: Catocalinae
Genus: Catocala, Schrank, 1802

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DISTRIBUTION:

Catocala allusa flies in the Pacific Maritime Ecozone of British Columbia and southward into Washington.

This specimen, courtesy of Jeremy Tatum and Dr. John Snyder, shows typical resting pose. According to Jeremy, the moth was "immediately active as soon as it had emerged from the pupa, and it would not allow me to photograph the hindwings, which are quite similar to those of aholibah."

White interior outline of terminal line is typical of this species and two jagged upper "teeth" of postmedial line are typical of most poplar feeders.

There is also a dark bar a few mm up from inner margin of the forewing.

The inner black band of the hindwing is relatively thick and terminates well before the inner margin.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Catocala allusa are usually on the wing in .

The Catocala allusa caterpillar shows a preference for poplars and willows.

ECLOSION:

Adults eclose from pupae at soil surface.

SCENTING AND MATING:

Catocala allusa females emit an airbourne pheromone and males use their antennae to track the scent plume.

EGGS, CATERPILLARS, COCOONS, AND PUPAE:

Eggs are deposited on tree bark in the fall and hatch the following spring.

First instar larvae are very tiny. As larvae mature they become night feeders, often leaving the host plant during the day to hide amongst the undergrowth.

Catocala allusa larva on willow courtesy of Jeremy Tatum and Dr. John Snyder.

Larval Food Plants


Listed below are primary food plant(s) and alternate food plants. It is hoped that this alphabetical listing followed by the common name of the foodplant will prove useful. The list is not exhaustive, although some species seem very host specific. Experimenting with closely related foodplants is worthwhile.

Populus......
Salix

Poplar
Willow

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This page is brought to you by Bill Oehlke and the WLSS. Pages are on space rented from Bizland. If you would like to become a "Patron of the Sphingidae/Catocala Sites", contact Bill.

Please send sightings/images to Bill. I will do my best to respond to requests for identification help.