GREATER BLACK-LETTER DART

Xestia dolosa

OWLET MOTHS (Noctuidae)

The Greater Black-letter Dart has a wingspan of about 1.75 inches.  The forewing is rosy-brown in males and blackish in females.  The black bar from the antemedial line to the reniform spot near the costa is interrupted by the yellow obicular spot that widens towards the costa.  A black blotch angles inward from the costa at the top of the subterminal line.  The hindwing is dirty white with grayish-brown shading that is darker in the female than in the male.  This moth is identical in appearance to the Setaceous Hebrew Character Moth (X. c-nigrum).  We have called it X. dolosa on the basis of geographic range and habitat.  According to David L. Wagner ("Owlet Caterpillars) the X. dolosa prefers dry woodlands and X. c-nigrum is found in disturbed and grassy landscapes.  The larva grows to 1.50 inches.  It is variably gray, green or brown with thin, indistinct middorsal and subdorsal stripes.  Gray and brown forms usually have dark, oblique, subdorsal spots.

This moth is probably common at Fontenelle Forest and Neale Woods.  It has been photographed multiple times, most recently in late-August 2015.  It is attracted to lights set up to attract moths.

The larvae eat a variety of plants and trees including the leaves of apple, clover, corn, maple, nettle, tobacco and others. The species winters as a nearly full grown larva.