University of Alberta Museums Search

A medium-size (35-4.0 cm wingspan) light ochre-yellow moth with broad slightly falcate forewings. Forewings crossed by several narrow rusty-orange lines, the outer two drawn sharply out into a point almost to margin, with darker yellow-orange scaling in area where the two lines meet. Prominent dark discal dot. Hindwings lighter straw yellow, with fragments of dark rust-orange lines near margin in anal area. Antennae simple or nearly so. Sexes similar. The illustrated adult is the specimen from Calgary. Very similar to Eulithis. diversilineata, which averages smaller and has differences in the genitalia and larva, and has small or obsolete discal dots.

Adults are nocturnal. Like other Eulithis sp., when at rest they curl the abdomen upward and forward over the thorax, breaking up their otherwise moth-like image. The larvae are brown and twig-like, and feed on grapevines (Vitis sp.) and Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus sp.) neither of which occur naturally in Alberta. Handfield (1999) also lists Epilobium as a host, without further details. The Edmonton specimen was collected on July 23, 1915, the Calgary specimen on August 10, 1919.