Euxoa aurulenta
Encyclopedia
The Dune Cutworm is a moth
of the Noctuidae
family. It is found from Ontario
west to Alberta
and Washington, south to Illinois
, Nebraska
, Colorado
and Arizona
.
The wingspan
is 35–39 mm. Adults are on wing in May to July. There is one generation per year.
The larvae probably feed on species of dune grass. In Michigan specimens have been collected in close proximity to the beach grasses Ammophila breviligulata
and Calmovilfa longifolia.
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
of the Noctuidae
Noctuidae
The Noctuidae or owlet moths are a family of robustly-built moths that includes more than 35,000 known species out of possibly 100,000 total, in more than 4,200 genera. They constitute the largest family in the Lepidoptera....
family. It is found from Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
west to Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
and Washington, south to Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
and Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
.
The wingspan
Wingspan
The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...
is 35–39 mm. Adults are on wing in May to July. There is one generation per year.
The larvae probably feed on species of dune grass. In Michigan specimens have been collected in close proximity to the beach grasses Ammophila breviligulata
Ammophila breviligulata
Ammophila breviligulata is a species of grass that is native to eastern North America, where it grows on sand dunes along the Atlantic Ocean and Great Lakes coasts...
and Calmovilfa longifolia.