Catocala pura

Catocala pura
kah-TOCK-uh-lah mm PEW-ruh
Hulst, 1880

Catocala pura, Hampson plate.
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

MIDI MUSIC

"Moon River"
copyright C. Odenkirk
MIDI CITY
ON.OFF

DISTRIBUTION:

Catocala pura (wingspan: mm), flies in Colorado and Utah and into California.
On the forewing, the subreniform spot is small and white and the antemedial, postmedial and subterminal lines are regularly zig-zagged with no protruding spikes.
There is a narrow basal dash, sometimes extending into the median area.
The inner black band of the hindwing is relatively even and narrow and ends well before the inner margin. Hindwing fringe is white from the apex to the anal angle where it turns reddish brown. The coloured bands are red.
Catocala hippolyta, Catocala nevadensis and Catocala pura may all be synonymous with Catocala semirelicta.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Catocala pura are on the wing in July and August.
The Catocala pura caterpillar feeds on Populus fremontii.

ECLOSION:

Adults eclose from pupae at soil surface.

SCENTING AND MATING:

Catocala pura 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.

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 fremontii.......

Cottonwood

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