Catocala texanae
kah-TOCK-uh-lahMTEX-an-ay
French, 1902

This site has been created by Bill Oehlke.
Comments, suggestions and/or additional information are welcomed by Bill.

TAXONOMY: Superfamily: Noctuoidea Family: Erebidae, Leach, [1815] Subfamily: Erebinae, Leach, [1815] Tribe: Catocalini, Boisduval, [1828] Genus: Catocala, Schrank, 1802

DISTRIBUTION:

Catocala texanae, the Texan Underwing, (wingspan: approximately 85mm) flies in Texas, Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma.

Catocala texanae, Texas, All Leps Barcode of Life.

The forewings are a mottled brown with indistinct lines.

The inner black band of the hindwing is very narrow and comes to a point far short of the inner margin. The hindwing fringe is mostly white with some red-orange at the apex.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Catocala texanae flies as a single generation with moths on the wing from May into June. The foodplant of the Catocala texanae caterpillar is unknown.

ECLOSION:

Adults eclose from pupae formed under leaf litter.

SCENTING AND MATING:

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

EGGS, CATERPILLARS, COCOONS, AND PUPAE:

Eggs are deposited on tree bark in the fall and hatch the following spring.

Mature larvae

Larval Food Plants

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.

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Please send sightings/images to Bill. I will do my best to respond to requests for identification help.