Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada

25 August 2005   9:40PM EST  (top)
18 August 2005   9:14PM EST  (bottom left)
24 August 2005   7:15PM EST  (bottom right)

Parapoynx badiusalis is one of four species of Parapoynx recorded from the Ottawa area (J.D. Lafontaine, pers. comm., 2001), all of which are illustrated on this web site. My initial identification of Parapoynx badiusalis was based on Munroe, E., The Moths of North America North of Mexico, Fascicle 13.1, Pyraloidea Pyralidae (Part) (London: E.W. Classey, 1972-1974) and specimens in the Canadian National Collection in Ottawa.

Parapoynx badiusalis has a white forewing marked with lines and speckled areas.  The area adjacent to the costa is speckled with brown for about 2/3 of the length of the wing; the area adjacent to the inner margin is similarly speckled with brown from the base to the anal angle.  Of the three dark brown to black lines that cross the wing, the innermost one is evident only between the two speckled areas.  The middle one extends downward from the costa, then bends sharply inward at the midpoint of the wing, then bends again into a curve that terminates at the inner margin.  Along the central section of this line, there is often an additional loop upward, and some yellow color outside the outermost corner of the line.  The third dark line runs from just above the apex to reach the speckled area just above the anal angle.  Along the outer margin, there is a band of yellow-orange, edged on both sides with dark brown, preceding the whitish fringe.  The banding on the whitish hindwing is similar, with two dark lines of about equal width crossing the wing in the white area, and a yellow-orange band edged with brown that runs along the outer margin just inside the whitish fringe.  Munroe (1972) states the length of the forewing to range from 7 to 11 mm.

Munroe (1972) cites studies indicating that the larvae of Parapoynx badiusalis feed on pondweeds and other aquatic plants, and live in cases made of pieces of leaf fastened together with silk.

My records to date for Parapoynx badiusalis (each date representing "the night of") are in the table below: