Enargia decolor facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Enargia decolor |
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Enargia
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E. decolor
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| Enargia decolor (Walker, 1858)
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The pale enargia or aspen twoleaf tier (Enargia decolor) is a type of moth. It belongs to the Noctuidae family, which includes many night-flying moths. This moth is known for its pale colors and its connection to aspen trees.
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About the Pale Enargia Moth
The pale enargia moth is a fascinating insect found across North America. It gets its common name from its light coloring and its larvae's habit of feeding on aspen leaves. Moths are important parts of their ecosystems. They help pollinate plants and serve as food for other animals.
Where the Moth Lives
This moth lives across a very wide area. You can find it throughout the boreal forest in Canada. This forest stretches across the northern parts of the country. The moth also lives further south in the western United States. In these areas, it prefers higher places like mountains.
It needs certain trees to survive, especially trembling aspen and other poplar trees. These trees are its main food source. The pale enargia moth has been seen from British Columbia to New Brunswick in Canada. It has also been reported in Nova Scotia, Ohio, and New York.
In the western United States, it lives in states like Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. Scientists believe that the moths living west of the Rocky Mountains might even be a slightly different species.
What the Moth Looks Like
The pale enargia moth is a medium-sized moth. Its wingspan is about 30 to 40 millimeters. That's about 1.2 to 1.6 inches wide. The adults fly mostly in late summer and early autumn. You can usually see them from late July to early September. Most sightings happen after the middle of August.
Life Cycle and Food
Like all moths, the pale enargia goes through different life stages. It starts as an egg, then hatches into a larva (caterpillar), then becomes a pupa, and finally an adult moth.
The larvae of this moth are plant-eaters. They have been found feeding on several types of trees and shrubs. These include:
- Paper birch (Betula papyrifera)
- Balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera)
- Different kinds of willow species (Salix)
- Bigtooth aspen (Populus grandidentata)
- Speckled alder (Alnus rugosa)
However, their favorite food is the trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides). Sometimes, there can be so many pale enargia larvae that they eat a lot of leaves. This can cause a lot of defoliation, meaning they remove many leaves from the aspen trees in boreal forests.
