University of Alberta Museums Search

A medium-size Euxoa (3.0-3.7 cm wingspan) with light grey-brown or yellow-brown forewings and shining white hindwings. Only the antemedian and postmedian lines are prominent; the former is nearly straight, the latter finer and finely scalloped at the veins. The orbicular is a large oval, filled with scales slightly paler than the ground while the reniform is obscure, outlined with a few dark scales and filled with the same color as the ground. The claviform is usually indicated by a small patch of dark scales. The median portion of the subterminal area is somewhat darker than the rest of the forewing, and the fringe is a mix of whitish and light brown scales. The most prominent marking is the space before the orbicular and between the orbicular and reniform spots, which are filled or nearly so with dark scales. The hindwings are shining white, with a few light brown scales marking the veins and forming an obscure, narrow terminal band (darker in females). The fringe is white. Most similar to E. misturata. Pallipennis males can be identified by the short, bladelike saccular extensions with a slight twist about 2/3 of the distance from the base, with the apex projecting dorsally toward the cucullus and slightly outside. The shape of the vesica and its pouches (and in particular that of the subbasal diverticulum) is also characteristic. Females differ from misturata and similar species by the absence of fused margins or sclerotized flange-like projections on the ovipositor lobes. Euxoa pallipennis belongs to the subgenus Euxoa, characterized mainly by the shape of the vesica in males. Keys to the subgenera and species and illustrations of the genitalia are provided in Lafontaine, 1987.