Moths of North Dakota

Common name: No accepted common name, listed here as: Greater black-letter dart/ Greater spotted cutworm.

Hodges #: 10942.1.

Identification: Rfw 18.3 mm (&), fw dull brown to deep blue-gray, orbicular a 'U-shaped' spot. In any given locality, sex for sex, this species is a few mm. larger than X. c-nigrum-- see key. Ptagiae usually bi-colored and contrasting with tegulae. In dissected material, juxta shape is distinctive: broadened lower portion is > 1/2 the total height of juxta.

Similar species: 10674, 10942, 10950, and 11047.

Distribution: .Eastern U.S. and southern Canada; extending westward to the Rockies in the northern Great Plains.

Hosts: Records for this species and X. c-nigrum are confused in the literature. Between them, at least 60 species of herbs, vegetables, and woody plants have been reported from North America. Franclemont (1980) notes that X. dolosa tends to be a woodland species.

ND Cass Co., Fargo. UV lt. trap.
14- IX- 1958. R. Groom;

ND Barnes Co., Valley City. UV. lt. trap.
8- VIII- 1957. R. Groom.

Forewings of X. dolosa (left) and X. c-nigrum (right) showing 'U' and 'V' shaped orbicular spots, respectively.