Catocala blandula
kah-TOCK-uh-lah mm BLAND-yuh-luh
Hulst, 1884

Catocala blandula courtesy of Lynn Scott.

This site has been created by Bill Oehlke at oehlkew@islandtelecom.com
Comments, suggestions and/or additional information are welcomed by Bill.

TAXONOMY: Superfamily: Noctuoidea Family: Noctuidae Group: Noctuinina Subfamily: Catocalinae Genus: Catocala, Schrank, 1802

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DISTRIBUTION:

Catocala blandula, the Charming underwing, (wingspan: 40-50mm) flies from Alberta to Ontario to New Brunswick in Canada and south through Connecticut to Georgia, and west to Iowa, Ohio and Illinois.

It is often difficult to distinguish blandula from crataegi and mira, but mira lacks the dark basal shading common to blandula and crataegi.

Blandula tends to differ from crataegi in that the former has
1) am and pm lines that meet at the inner margin,
2) a brown as opposed to black basal area,
3) an absence of any green shading/tint in the median area,
4) an unbroken outer black band in the hindwing.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Catocala blandula are usually on the wing from July to early September.

The Catocala blandula caterpillar shows a preference for Amelanchier, Crataegus and Malus pumila.

ECLOSION:

Adults eclose from pupae at soil surface.

SCENTING AND MATING:

Catocala blandula females emit an airbourne pheromone and males use their antennae to track the scent plume.

Catocala blandula scan of posed specimen by Bill Oehlke (Montague, P.E.I., Aug. 10, 2002).

EGGS, CATERPILLARS, COCOONS, AND PUPAE:

Eggs are deposited on tree bark in the fall and hatch the following spring. The larva is light grey-brown with orange tubercles on the fifth abdominal segment followed by an orangey-brown saddle. The ventral fringe is dense, long and lighter than body color. Catocala blandula final instar courtesy of James K. Adams.

Listed below are primary food plant(s) and alternate food plants. It is hoped that this alphabetical listing followed by the common name of the foodplant will prove useful. The list is not exhaustive, although some species seem very host specific. Experimenting with closely related foodplants is worthwhile.

Amelanchier...... Crataegus Malus pumila

Serviceberry Hawthorn Common apple

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