Schinia villosa
Encyclopedia
The Little Dark Gem is a moth
of the Noctuidae
family. It is mostly a western mountain species, however it has also been found across the plains eastward across Alberta
and Saskatchewan
to southern Manitoba
. West it is found up to the coast ranges of Washington and British Columbia
, south to Arizona
.
The wingspan
is about 20 mm. Adults are on wing from July to August depending on the location.
The larvae feed on Aster, Erigeron
and Eucephalus ledophyllus.
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 mostly a western mountain species, however it has also been found across the plains eastward across 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 Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
to southern Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
. West it is found up to the coast ranges of Washington and British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, south to 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 about 20 mm. Adults are on wing from July to August depending on the location.
The larvae feed on Aster, Erigeron
Erigeron
Erigeron is a genus of about 390 species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution with the highest species diversity in North America, where 173 species occur....
and Eucephalus ledophyllus.