Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada

9 August 2003   12:17AM EST  (top)
15 May 2003   11:07PM EST  (centre left)
6 May 2004   8:37PM EST  (centre centre)
19 May 2004   9:41PM EST  (centre right)
24 July 2003   12:15AM EST  (bottom left)
12 August 2003   11:40PM EST  (bottom right)

Drepana bilineata is one of two species of Drepana reported to occur in the Ottawa area (J.D. Lafontaine, pers. comm., 2001).

Drepana bilineata ranges in color from creamy white to orange-yellow.  The lighter color usually coincides with darker, more vivid lines and other markings.  The entire forewing is often covered with a noticeable network of faint, fine lines.  The shape of the forewing is distinctive, the apex forming a curved hook, giving rise to the common epithet for this family as hooktip moths.  The antemedial and postmedial lines are brown and almost straight, except for a slight bend just below the costa.  The subterminal line is whitish and quite faint.  The hindwing is a pale creamy beige in color, sometimes showing a faint postmedial line and discal dot.  The wingspan ranges from 2.8 to 3.3 cm, according to Covell (1983).

The larvae of Drepana bilineata generally feed on white birch, but may also eat alder, poplar or elm (Handfield, 1999).  Handfield indicates two generations per year for this species in my general area, with flight seasons from early May to early July, and from mid-July to late August.

I have recorded this species at my location in 2001, on 11 and 26 June, and on 22 July; in 2002, on 22, 23 and 28 May, and on 30 July; in 2003, on 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 23, 26 and 27 May, on 14, 17, 26 and 28 June, on 7, 11, 14, 21, 23 and 25 July, and on 8, 9 and 12 August; in 2004, on 30 April, on 6, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 22, 29 and 31 May, on 6, 8, 9, 13 and 14 June, on 4, 7, 12, 14, 27 and 31 July.