Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada

18 May 2004   2:00AM EST  (top left)
1 July 2003   11:36PM EST  (top right)
5 June 2003   11:19PM EST  (bottom left)
10 July 2004   11:33PM EST  (bottom right)

Charadra deridens, sometimes termed "The Laugher", has a pale gray forewing, heavily shaded with darker gray. The antemedial line is black, sometimes clearly edged in white along the inner edge; the postmedial line is also black, somewhat scalloped, and edged with white along the outer edge. The am and pm lines are connected a little more than halfway down the wing by a black line that crosses the median. The curve of this line half surrounds a pale gray area around the dark-centered orbicular spot, giving the impression of an eye. The reniform spot is outlined in white, with a line of black filling. The subterminal line has jagged scallops, and is shaded in black along its inner edge. Between the st line and the black dashed terminal line, the wing is shaded in brownish gray. The hindwing is light grayish brown, slightly darker towards the outer margin. The fringe on forewing and hindwing is alternating dark gray and white, with the gray more dominant on the forewing, and the white more dominant on the hindwing. Covell (1984) indicates a wingspan ranging from 3.8 to 4.8 cm.

According to Handfield (1999), the usual host plant for Charadra deridens is beech, but the larvae may also feed on various species of birch, oak, elm and maple. He indicates an adult flight season from early June to the end of July for my general area.

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