Common NameAlberta LutestringSeasonalityIn Alberta adults have been collected from mid-August through mid-September.IdentificationMedium-size (3.2-3.9 cm wingspan) moths with smooth slate-grey forewings and dirty white or pale grey hindwings. The forewings are crossed by sinuous, doubled antemedian and postmedian lines, which are infilled with pale rusty-orange scales. There is a short black line looping inward from the apex, a thin black terminal line broken at the veins, and a small raised tuft of dark grey scales near the wing base and at the orbicular. The hindwings are crossed by a faint median band, and have a narrow black terminal line. The antennae are dentate; the sexes are similar. This interesting and uncommon moth is a member of a small genus restricted to western North America. The Alberta Lutestring, the only member of the genus found in Alberta, was originally described in 1938 from three specimens collected by Dod at the head of Pine Creek, just west of Calgary.
Scientific NameCeranemota albertaeCommon Name
Alberta Lutestring
Habitat
Dry open woodland and shrub areas with wild cherry.
Seasonality
In Alberta adults have been collected from mid-August through mid-September.
Identification
Medium-size (3.2-3.9 cm wingspan) moths with smooth slate-grey forewings and dirty white or pale grey hindwings. The forewings are crossed by sinuous, doubled antemedian and postmedian lines, which are infilled with…
Medium-size (3.2-3.9 cm wingspan) moths with smooth slate-grey forewings and dirty white or pale grey hindwings. The forewings are crossed by sinuous, doubled antemedian and postmedian lines, which are infilled with pale rusty-orange scales. There is a short black line looping inward from the apex, a thin black terminal line broken at the veins, and a small raised tuft of dark grey scales near the wing base and at the orbicular. The hindwings are crossed by a faint median band, and have a narrow black terminal line. The antennae are dentate; the sexes are similar. This interesting and uncommon moth is a member of a small genus restricted to western North America. The Alberta Lutestring, the only member of the genus found in Alberta, was originally described in 1938 from three specimens collected by Dod at the head of Pine Creek, just west of Calgary.
Life History
The adults fly in late summer and early fall, and are attracted to both light and sugar baits.
Conservation
Uncommon and local, but no obvious concerns.
Diet Info
Unknown. Larvae of related species of Ceranemota utilize wild cherries and Saskatoon (Amelancier), and chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) is a suspected host of albertae in Alberta.
Range
Known only from western Canada, where it occurs from south-central British Columbia east to southeastern Saskatchewan. In Alberta occurs in wooded river valleys in the arid shortgrass prairie and open sandy pine…
Known only from western Canada, where it occurs from south-central British Columbia east to southeastern Saskatchewan. In Alberta occurs in wooded river valleys in the arid shortgrass prairie and open sandy pine barrens in the southern Boreal forest. It has been collected from Writing-on-Stone in the arid short-grass prairie region north into the southern Boreal forest near Ft. Assiniboine and Redwater.
Citation
Page Citation for Ceranemota albertae
Page Citation
"Species Details - Ceranemota albertae, University of Alberta E.H. Strickland Entomological Museum." University of Alberta Museums Search Site, https://search.museums.ualberta.ca/g/2-2773/9-117353. Accessed 20 Mar. 2025.
References
AuthorClarke, J. F. G., and F. H. Benjamin.
TitleA study of some North American moths allied to the thyatirid genus Bombycia Hübner.
Publication Date1938
Series TitleBulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences
Volume37
Pages55-73
Specimen Information
There are 68 specimens of this Species.
68 results plotted on map in 33 markers. Note: Only records with latitude and longitude coordinates are plotted on map.