Marbled-green Leuconycta

Marbled-green Leuconycta

Leuconycta lepidula
OWLET MOTH FAMILY (Noctuidae)

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The Marbled-green Leuconycta has a wingspan of about 1.25 inches. The forewing is mottled green and brown with large green spots and patches. It resembles the Green Leuconycta, but it has a broad gray-brown median band that is almost complete. The green orbicular spots and reniform spots are incompletely outlined white. The subterminal line is a row of black dashes. The hindwing is gray with a fringe of dark and pale scales. The caterpillar is yellow-green with a prominent white spiracular stripe edged above with red. It grows to about 1.25 inches.

 

The frequency of occurrence of this moth in our area is not known. It has been photographed once at Fontenelle Forest Nature Center in late April 2015. Adults come to lights and fly from April to June.

 

The hostplant is Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale). There is one generation a year.

 

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