University of Alberta Museums Search

A medium-size (3.2-3.6 cm wingspan) grey or (rarely) dull red moth. Frontal tubercle absent. Male antennae biserrate, with antennae about twice the width of the shaft. Forewings grey or grey-brown, rarely dull pink or red. Maculation poorly defined. Basal and antemedian lines incomplete, single, darker grey. Postmedian line complete, thin, dark grey and toothed at the veins, with each tooth usually tipped with a dark dot. Subterminal line faint to prominent, often outlined with pale yellow scales distally. Orbicular and claviform obsolete, reniform kidney-shaped with the lower half prominent and filled with dark scales. Fringe light grey-brown. Hindwings smoky grey with a dark discal bar and a pale fringe. Sexes similar except antennae. Most like the closely related E. scandens, which replaces it at lower elevations and latitudes. The saccular extensions in the genitalia of male quebecensis are longer (.7-.9 times the length of the right harp) compared to those of scandens (.3-.6 times the length of the right harp), and the hindwings are darker than those of scandens. The dark wings and prominent dark spot in the reniform will usually identify quebecensis. Euxoa quebecensis belongs to the subgenus Pleonectopoda, characterized by the prominent twist or subbasal coil in the vesica of the male. There are no characters that can be used to identify females as members of the subgenus. Keys to the subgenus and species are presented in Lafontaine, 1987.