Catocala messalina GuenA©e, 1852
Messalina Underwing
NatureServe Global Rank: G4?
Virginia State Rank: SH
VA DGIF Tier: None
Federal Legal Status: None
Virginia Legal Status: None
Description: Forewing is plain, dull, grey-green, gradually darkening in the outer one-third of the wing's unbroken border. Fringe is whitish-yellow with even unbroken black border. The hindwing is like that of the False Underwing (Allotria elonympha), having no inner black band. The outer band is quite wide.
Similar species: The more lightly marked form of the False underwing (Allotria elonympha) generally has more patterned front wings, and the hind wing has a solid black border with a yellow-orange interior, while that of the Messalina Underwing does not follow the entire edge of the hind wing and has a barely connected or disconnected small black spot near the trailing edge of the hind wing.
North American Range: Virginia south to Florida and west to Texas.
VA Observations by Locality: Montgomery
Flight season and broods: Probably June through August.
Habitat and Food Plants: Found mostly around live oaks (Quercus virginiana). Food unrecorded.
Behavior and Ecology: Adults eclose from pupae at soil surface. Eggs are deposited on tree bark in the fall and hatch the following spring.
Population trend and potential threats: Possibly extirpated in Virginia.
Management practices: Maintain and protect any occupied habitat.
References: Covell, C.V., Jr. 1984. Peterson Field Guides: Eastern Moths. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, MA. 496pp.
Moth Photographers Group at the Mississippi Entomological Museum at Mississippi State University. Web application at: http://mothphotographersgroup.msstate.edu/large_map.php?hodges=8845 Accessed: 13Apr2013
Oehlke, B. 2010. Catocala website accessed at: www.silkmoths.bizland.com/catmessalin.htm Accessed: 30Aug2012.
Schweitzer, D. F., M. C. Minno, and D. L. Wagner. 2011. Rare, Declining and Poorly Known Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) of Forests and Woodlands in the Eastern United States. USDA Forest Service, Morgantown, WV, FHTET-2011-01. 517 pp.