Catocala faustina
kah-TOCK-uh-lahmmfows-TEE-nuh
Strecker, 1873

Catocala faustina from Escondido, California, courtesy of Kirby Wolfe.

This site has been created by Bill Oehlke.
Comments, suggestions and/or additional information are welcomed by Bill.

TAXONOMY: Superfamily: Noctuoidea Family: Erebidae, Leach, [1815] Subfamily: Erebinae, Leach, [1815] Tribe: Catocalini, Boisduval, [1828] Genus: Catocala, Schrank, 1802

DISTRIBUTION: Catocala faustina (wingspan: approximately 58mm), flies from Colorado west to California and north through Washington to British Columbia. It has also been reported in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Wyoming and Utah. Specimens from the coastal areas of northern California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia are classified as C. faustina allusa. C. faustina allusa blends with C. faustina cleopatra in northwestern California, and with C. faustina faustina in the Rocky Mountains of Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. The hindwing inner band is narrow and truncated well before the inner margin. The two "teeth" in the forewing postmedial line are relatively short.

Scott Shaw reports faustina is common "on Pole Mountain, in the Medicine Bow Forest, Wyoming, about 10 miles east of Laramie near I-80 in the mountain willow bogs."

C. faustina, June 20, 2002, Pinnacles National Monument,
San Benito, California, courtesy of Paul Johnson.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Catocala faustina are probably on the wing in September and October.

The Catocala faustina caterpillar feeds on Salix.

ECLOSION:

Adults eclose from pupae at soil surface.

SCENTING AND MATING:

Catocala faustina females emit an airbourne pheromone and males use their antennae to track the scent plume.

EGGS, CATERPILLARS, COCOONS, AND PUPAE:

Eggs are deposited on tree bark in the fall and hatch the following spring.

Larval Food Plants

Listed below are primary food plant(s) and alternate food plants. It is hoped that this alphabetical listing followed by the common name of the foodplant will prove useful. The list is not exhaustive, although some species seem very host specific. Experimenting with closely related foodplants is worthwhile.

Salix......

Willow

Return to Main Catocala Index

This page is brought to you by Bill Oehlke and the WLSS. Please send sightings/images to Bill. I will do my best to respond to requests for identification help.