''Catocala amestris'', the three-staff underwing, is a species of

Catocalini The Catocalini are a tribe of moths in the family Erebidae. Adults of many species in the tribe are called underwing moths due to their vividly colored hindwings that are often covered by contrastingly dark, drab forewings. Taxonomy The tribe i ...

that occurs in North America. It is considered endangered and is legally protected in the state of

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

Description

Like most underwings, ''C. amestris'' has a brightly colored hindwing and brownish-gray forewings, the wingspan is 1.6-1.8in (4-4.5 cm). The forewings have a blotch that strongly resembles a kidney shape, beyond that the wing has mixed wavy lines. The hindwings have two wavy black lines separating a yellow-orange coloration. The

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larva, larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterfly, butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawfly ...

of this species is bluish white with a yellowish coloring on the dorsum, or top side. It also has an orange band along with 7 thin black lines on its sides.

Habitat

Between June and August this moth can be seen in dry-mesic prairie lands and oak forest. Due to only having one genus of host plant, ''

Amorpha spp. ''Amorpha'' is a genus of plants in the Fabaceae, pea family, Fabaceae. All the species are native to North America, from southern Canada, most of the United States (US), and northern Mexico. They are commonly known as false indigo. The name ''A ...

'', the moth is hard to find in even these areas.

References

Moths of North America

amestris Amestris ( el, Άμηστρις, ''Amēstris'', perhaps the same as Άμαστρις, ''Amāstris'', from Old Persian ''Amāstrī-'', "strong woman"; died c. 424 BC) was a Persian queen, the wife of Xerxes I of Persia, mother of Achaemenid King ...

Moths described in 1874 {{Catocalini-stub