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Species Details

Ascalapha odorata

University of Alberta E.H. Strickland Entomological Museum Read more about this collection »

Common NameBlack Witch SeasonalityAlberta records are for late July and August. IdentificationA huge (11-15 cm wingspan) moth with broad dark black-brown pointed wings with purple highlights. The reniform is comma-shaped, with a light blue center. The lower edge of the hindwings has a large black-rimed circle containing two dark spots. Unlike any other Alberta moth; on the wing it looks more like a bat than a moth.
Scientific Name Ascalapha odorata Common Name Black Witch Habitat Wooded areas, including urban areas. Seasonality Alberta records are for late July and August. Identification
A huge (11-15 cm wingspan) moth with broad dark black-brown pointed wings with purple highlights. The reniform is comma-shaped, with a light blue center. The lower edge of the hindwings has a large black-rimed…
A huge (11-15 cm wingspan) moth with broad dark black-brown pointed wings with purple highlights. The reniform is comma-shaped, with a light blue center. The lower edge of the hindwings has a large black-rimed circle containing two dark spots. Unlike any other Alberta moth; on the wing it looks more like a bat than a moth.
Life History
The Black Witch is a common tropical moth that strays north on occasion to southern Canada, including Alberta. Their larval food plants do not occur north of the tropics, and any that stray this far north are doomed. …
The Black Witch is a common tropical moth that strays north on occasion to southern Canada, including Alberta. Their larval food plants do not occur north of the tropics, and any that stray this far north are doomed. They are nocturnal and come to sugar bait.
Conservation A rare stray from the tropics; no concern. Diet Info The larval hosts are tropical legumes in the genera Pithecellobium and Cassia. Range As a breeding resident, tropical South America north to Florida and the Gulf States. A rare stray north to southern Canada. Recorded in Alberta north to Edmonton.

Citation

Page Citation for Ascalapha odorata

Page Citation

"Species Details - Ascalapha odorata, University of Alberta E.H. Strickland Entomological Museum." University of Alberta Museums Search Site, https://search.museums.ualberta.ca/g/2-3869. Accessed 27 Mar. 2023.

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Kingdom Animalia Phylum Arthropoda Class Hexapoda Subclass Insecta Order Lepidoptera Suborder Ditrysia Superfamily Noctuoidea Family Noctuidae Subfamily Catocalinae Genus Ascalapha Species Ascalapha odorata
This hierarchy is created from our museum records, it may not always accurately reflect modern taxonomies.

Taxonomic Hierarchy for University of Alberta E.H. Strickland Entomological Museum