About the Joined Underwing Moth
Catocala junctura, the joined underwing or Stretch's underwing, is a moth in the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Francis Walker in 1858. It is found throughout temperate North America, ranging from New York and Pennsylvania west to Montana, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arizona, and into Texas, and north to southern Illinois, extreme southern Alberta and Saskatchewan; it has also been recorded west of the Rocky Mountains from California and south-eastern British Columbia. It is typically found near water, where the food plants of its caterpillar larvae grow plentifully.
The wingspan is 70–75 mm or more. The forewings are grayish to brownish with prominent black bands above, and whitish below. The upperside of the hindwings is orange red, with two roughly concentric blackish bands on each wing, and lacking hairs at the base. The outer band separates a margin that is lighter in color than the rest of the upper hindwing. The inner band does not reach the trailing edge; its hindward tip forms a hook which points back at the wing base, or almost so. The underside of the hindwings is whitish along the leading edge; the trailing three-quarters of the... Wikipedia →