Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada

1 July 2004   9:57PM EST  (top left)
2 July 2005   11:08PM EST  (top right)
29 June 2003   12:09AM EST  (bottom left)
14 June 2005   8:59PM EST  (bottom right)

Cerma cerintha is one of two species of Cerma that have been recorded from the Ottawa area (J.D. Lafontaine, pers. comm., 2001).

The forewing of Cerma cerintha appears mainly white, with a wide white medial area.  There is also a small area of white right at the base of the wing, followed by two distinctive points of dark grayish blue, highlighted with white along the outer edge.  The antemedial line is olive green.  In the median, the orbicular and reniform spots are outlined by fine black lines; there is some light blue-gray filling in the center of the reniform spot.  Several parallel bluish to greenish gray lines of varying thickness cross the center of the median, clearest at the inner margin.  The postmedial line is olive green, and the area beyond it has areas of reddish brown, near-black and gray, with a whitish area near the midpoint of the outer margin.  A slightly scalloped white terminal line is followed by dark fringe with streaks of white.  The hindwing is white with a dark terminal line.  Nearly halfway down the abdomen, there is a large tuft of reddish brown scales, followed by a smaller tuft of white tipped with reddish brown, most visible in the two photos at top.  Covell (1984) indicates a wingspan of 2.8 to 3.3 cm for this species.

According to Handfield (1999), the larvae of Cerma cerintha feed on a variety of rose, cherry, hawthorn and apple species. He indicates an adult flight season from the later part of May past mid-July for my general area.

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