Common NameForked Dagger-Moth; Speared Dagger-Moth; Dart Dagger-MothIdentificationA medium-size (3.5-4.5 cm. ws) dark grey dagger moth with light HW. The FW is a crisp powdery grey mottled with darker grey. AM and PM lines complete, the latter lunulate on the veins and lined with white A single lunule across fold, crossed by the anal dash. Basal dash heavy, widened in the middle and ending in three “spurs”, the anal dash strong, apical dash less so. The orbicular round, black, open above as is the reniform, and the two joined by a black dash from the middle of the orb. to lower reniform. HW dirty white and light fuscous, white in males. Antennae simple. Sexes similar but female HW with more dark scaling.
Scientific NameAcronicta hastaCommon Name
Forked Dagger-Moth; Speared Dagger-Moth; Dart Dagger-Moth
Habitat
Tall shrub and deciduous woodland edges
Identification
A medium-size (3.5-4.5 cm. ws) dark grey dagger moth with light HW. The FW is a crisp powdery grey mottled with darker grey. AM and PM lines complete, the latter lunulate on the veins and lined with white A single…
A medium-size (3.5-4.5 cm. ws) dark grey dagger moth with light HW. The FW is a crisp powdery grey mottled with darker grey. AM and PM lines complete, the latter lunulate on the veins and lined with white A single lunule across fold, crossed by the anal dash. Basal dash heavy, widened in the middle and ending in three “spurs”, the anal dash strong, apical dash less so. The orbicular round, black, open above as is the reniform, and the two joined by a black dash from the middle of the orb. to lower reniform. HW dirty white and light fuscous, white in males. Antennae simple. Sexes similar but female HW with more dark scaling.
Conservation
Widespread; uncommon.
Diet Info
Various Prunus sp., including Pin cherry and Choke-cherry; Prentice also lists Red oak..
Range
Mainly a species of the eastern deciduous woodlands, ranging west across southern SK and AB into central southern BC, south to TN, WI, and KS. Subspecies manitoba is the form occurring from MB west.
Notes
It has recently been confirmed by John Rawlins that hasta and furcifera are the same species (Lafontaine in lit, March 1998), with hasta being the older name. The form found in western Canada, including Alberta, is…
It has recently been confirmed by John Rawlins that hasta and furcifera are the same species (Lafontaine in lit, March 1998), with hasta being the older name. The form found in western Canada, including Alberta, is ssp. manitoba.
Citation
Page Citation for Acronicta hasta
Page Citation
"Species Details - Acronicta hasta, University of Alberta E.H. Strickland Entomological Museum." University of Alberta Museums Search Site, https://search.museums.ualberta.ca/g/2-6320. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.
Specimen Information
There are 44 specimens of this Species.
44 results plotted on map in 22 markers. Note: Only records with latitude and longitude coordinates are plotted on map.