Zale obliqua
Encyclopedia
The Oblique Zale is a moth
of the Noctuidae
family. It is found in barrens and pine woodlands from Ohio
to southern Maine
, south to northern Florida
, Mississippi
and Texas
.
The wingspan
is 36-40 mm. Adults are on wing in late March in south-eastern North Carolina and in early summer from New Jersey northward. There is one generation from New Jersey north. From eastern Maryland to north-eastern North Carolina southward there are two generations.
The larvae mainly feed on Pitch pine in the north. Southern hosts probably include loblolly, Pond pine and long leaf pines. They feed on fully hardened, mature needles.
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 in barrens and pine woodlands from Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
to southern Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, south to northern Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
and Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
.
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 36-40 mm. Adults are on wing in late March in south-eastern North Carolina and in early summer from New Jersey northward. There is one generation from New Jersey north. From eastern Maryland to north-eastern North Carolina southward there are two generations.
The larvae mainly feed on Pitch pine in the north. Southern hosts probably include loblolly, Pond pine and long leaf pines. They feed on fully hardened, mature needles.