University of Alberta Museums Search

A medium-size (3.3-3.7.0 cm wingspan) broad-winged two-toned brown moth. Palps very long, more than twice the length of the head. The forewings are light brown to dark black-brown, with the area between the antemedian and postmedian lines usually darker than the rest of the wing and often linked in the middle by a wide rusty black bar. The orbicular is a small solid black oblong or oval, and the reniform a larger more angular spot or lunule. There is also usually a large dark blotch on the outer margin just below the pointed apex. In darker specimens, the paler antemedian and postmedian lines stand out against the dark ground. The amount of contrast between light and dark areas varies greatly in specimens. Hindwings sooty brown. Sexes similar, but females often lighter brown, with slightly broader, less pointed wings. Antennae filiform. B. edictalis resembles a large dark geometrid moth more than it does a noctuid.

Quebec and Maine south to Virginia and Kentucky, west to the foothills of Alberta and the Peace River area of BC. In Alberta found throughout the parklands and boreal forest, south to the Red Deer River and north to at least Gregoire Lake.