University of Alberta Museums Search

A small, bright bluish-green genometrid with white transverse lines and pinkish wing fringes. Abdomen green, white apically, with two to three white spots encircled in pink.Three other similar species could occur with N. rubrifrontaria: Synchlora aerata, which has scalloped not straight transverse lines and a dorsal line along the abdomen rather than round dots; N. unitaria which does not have the abdominal spots surrounded in pink as in rubrifrontaria, and N. mimosaria which has no or at most one white abdominal spot not encircled in pink. N. darwiniata occurs only in the southwestern mountains, and is larger than rubrifrontaria (average forewing length 15mm in darwiniata and 12 mm in rubrifrontaria).

The unique larvae have triangular lateral flanges, giving them an armoured, dinosaurian appearance (see Wagner et al. 2001). The pupa overwinters (McGuffin 1988), and adults come to light. In eastern Nort America, this is a speices of bogs and barrens where Myrica (Myricaceae) grows. It should be watched for in northeastern Alberta in similar habitats.