Narrative

Catocala relicta is found from New England and northern New York into Colorado and even Oregon. Catocala relicta is a surprising contrast to the rest of the genus. The forewings are white lightly marked with black; the rear wings are black marked with two white bands. Catocala relicta was described in 1858 and was retained as a full species by Hodges in 1983.

This lifeform is locally common.

This lifeform is found north of the Mason Dixon line in North America.

Catocala genus is a large genus of moths with numerous species in North America and northern Eurasia. Hodges (1983) listed 110 species in his North American checklist. These moths have an unusual characteristic. When flying many species exhibit a large amount of color (usually red or pink) and catch the eye of many potential predators. However, when they land, their brightly colored rear wings are covered by dull forewings that match the bark of the trees upon which they typically land. Members of this genus are commonly called underwing moths. Because of the large number of species displayed here, the North American members of this genus have arbirarily been separated into several parts to assist with identification: Catocala Pink - Larger species with large amounts of pink or red in rear wings Catocala Dark - Large and small species with dark rear wings Catocala Tiny - The smaller species Catocala Y-O - Medium- to-large species with yellow or orange in rear wings The North American portion of the Catocala analysis was based on an older collection created with guidance from the Holland Moth book and then adjusted by the Hodges (1983) list. .

Noctuidae Family consists of thousands and thousands of species of moths, ranging in size from small to medium, and are found throughout the world. Although most of them are small, a few genera such as Catocala and Thysania reach good size and have colorful rear wings. Any light on a warm night almost anywhere in the world will produce several different species of these small brown moths. They are characterized by long narrow antennae and usually land with their rear wings hidden from view by their front wings which are usually more dull in color.

Butterflies and Moths (Order Lepidoptera) are a group of insects with four large wings. They go through various life cycles including eggs, caterpillar (larvae), pupae, and adult. Most butterflies and moths feed as adults, but primarily do most of their growing in the larval or caterpillar stage. Also, most species are restricted to feeding as caterpillars upon a unique set of plants. In this pairing of insects to plants, there arises a unique plant population control system. When one plant species becomes too common, specific pests to that species also become more common and thus prevent the further spreading of that particular plant species.

Although most people think of the Lepidoptera as two different groups: butterflies and moths, technically, the concept is not valid.

Some families, such as Silk Moths (Saturnidae) and Hawk Moths (Sphingidae), are clearly moths. Other families, such as Swallowtail Butterflies (Papilionidae), are clearly butterflies, However, several families exhibit characteristics that appear to be neither moths nor butterflies. For example: the Castnia Moths of South America are frequently placed in the Skipper Family (Hesperidae). The Sunset Moths (Uranidae) have long narrow antennae and fly during the day.

Note: Numerous museums and biologists have loaned specimens to be photographed for this project.

Insects (Class Insecta) are the most successful animals on Earth if success is measured by the number of species or the total number of living organisms. This class contains more than a million species, of which North America has approximately 100,000. (Recent estimates place the number of worldwide species at four to six million.)

Insects have an exoskeleton. The body is divided into three parts. The foremost part, the head, usually bears two antennae. The middle part, the thorax, has six legs and usually four wings. The last part, the abdomen, is used for breathing and reproduction.

Although different taxonomists divide the insects differently, about thirty-five different orders are included in most of the systems.

The following abbreviated list identifies some common orders of the many different orders of insects discussed herein:

Odonata: - Dragon and Damsel Flies
Orthoptera: - Grasshoppers and Mantids
Homoptera: - Cicadas and Misc. Hoppers
Diptera: - Flies and Mosquitoes
Hymenoptera: - Ants, Wasps, and Bees
Lepidoptera: - Butterflies and Moths
Coleoptera: - Beetles

Jointed Legged Animals (Phylum Arthropoda) make up the largest phylum. There are probably more than one million different species of arthropods known to science. It is also the most successful animal phylum in terms of the total number of living organisms.

Butterflies, beetles, grasshoppers, various insects, spiders, and crabs are well-known arthropods.

The phylum is usually broken into the following five main classes:
Arachnida: - Spiders and Scorpions
Crustacea: - Crabs and Crayfish
Chilopoda: - Centipedes
Diplopoda: - Millipedes
Insecta: - Insects

There are several other rare classes in the arthropods that should be mentioned. A more formal list is as follows:

Sub Phylum Chelicerata
C. Arachnida: - Spiders and scorpions
C. Pycnogonida: - Sea spiders (500 species)
C. Merostomata: - Mostly fossil species

Sub Phylum Mandibulata
C. Crustacea: - Crabs and crayfish

Myriapod Group
C. Chilopoda: - Centipedes
C. Diplopoda: - Millipedes
C. Pauropoda: - Tiny millipede-like
C. Symphyla: - Garden centipedes

Insect Group
C. Insecta: - Insects

The above list does not include some extinct classes of Arthropods such as the Trilobites.