| Rosy Underwing (Catocala electa (Vieweg, 1790)) |
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Scientific name: Catocala electa (Vieweg, 1790) Common name: Rosy Underwing French name: Élue, Choisie Order: Lepidoptera Suborder: Heterocera Family: Erebidae Subfamily: Erebinae Wingspan: 72-76 mm Biotope: Deciduous forests with Willows and Poplars. Geographic area: Temperate Europe and temperate Asia east to Japan. Flight time: July to September Number of generations : 1 Caterpillar: Greyish yellow and tapered on both ends. There are two orange dots on each segment and a hump on the eighth one. The under side is bluish white with a tawny median band marked with a black dot on each segment. Host plant: Willow (Salix sp.) or Poplar (Poplar sp.) |
Catocala comes from the Greek words "katö" which means "under" and "kalos" which means "beautiful". The fore wings' colour makes an almost perfect camouflage against a tree bark. They are a ashy grey colour with paler areas. They are crossed by three blackish lines outlined with pale grey and thickened next to the costal edge. The post median line is very angulous. It starts perpendicularly to the costal edge and then makes a 90 degrees angle towards the margin. Then it draws two large and sharp black pointed shapes towards the margin and runs to the inner edge with a more regular serrated shape. The reniform spot is yellowish and marked with a blackish ring. The margin shows a series of black dots externally bordered by paler dots. The bright red colour of the hind wings, is used to impress predators. They show a wide black rear border and a white fringe. The median black stripe is curved and does not reach the inner edge of the wing like on Catocala nupta. There are some similar species. The followings points can be used to try to tell them apart (I must have forgotten some species, I will add them when I get additional information). Let's first start with the fore wings. The Red Underwing (Catocala nupta), Catocala puerpera and the French Red Underwing (Catocala elocata) do not bear pale dots close to the fringe. The Dark Crimson Underwing (Catocala sponsa) and the Light Crimson Underwing (Catocala promissa) usually show brighter colours and particularly a black dotted line with a row of white dots next to the fringe. Concerning the hind wings, the French Red Underwing (Catocala elocata) and Catocala puerpera differ form the Rosy Underwing by the black stripe at the rear of the wing which is interrupted near the anal angle. The Dark Crimson Underwing (Catocala sponsa) distinguishes from the Rosy Underwing by the black median line of the hind wing which looks like a W character running from one edge to the other. This black median line is interrupted before the inner edge on the Rosy Underwing. The Light Crimson Underwing (Catocala promissa) distinguishes from the Rosy Underwing by the thinner median black line on the hind wings which are also more pinkish. The Rosy Underwing over winters as an egg. |
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The Rosy Underwing species is easy to tell apart with a upper side view of the fore wings only. |
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This specimen, attracted to light into the bathroom, has been kind to show me its hind wings (maybe to frighten me). This permits me to confirm the species identification. |
André Bon April 2017