''Catocala badia'', the bay underwing, bayberry underwing or old maid, is a

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

of the family

Erebidae The Erebidae are a family (biology), family of moths in the superfamily Noctuoidea. The family is among the largest families of moths by species count and contains a wide variety of well-known macromoth groups. The family includes the underwin ...

. It is found from southern

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

and

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

south to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

is 50–60 mm. There is probably one generation per year. The ''badia'' subspecies is listed as a species of special concern in Connecticut. The larvae feed on ''

Comptonia peregrina ''Comptonia peregrina'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Myricaceae native to eastern North America. It is the only extant (living) species in the genus '' Comptonia'', although a number of extinct species are placed in the genus. ...

'', ''

Myrica cerifera ''Myrica cerifera'' is an evergreen tree or large shrub native to North and Central America and the Caribbean. Its common names include southern wax myrtle, southern bayberry, candleberry, bayberry tree, and tallow shrub. It has uses in the garde ...

'', ''

Myrica gale ''Myrica gale'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Myricaceae native to parts of Eurasia and North America. Common names include bog-myrtle, sweet willow, Dutch myrtle, and sweetgale. Description ''Myrica gale'' is a deciduous shrub g ...

'', and ''

Myrica pensylvanica ''Myrica pensylvanica'', the northern bayberry, is a species of ''Myrica'' native to eastern North America, from Newfoundland west to Ontario and Ohio, and south to North Carolina. It is also classified as ''Morella pensylvanica''. ''Myrica pens ...

''.

References

Subspecies

*''Catocala badia badia'' *''Catocala badia coelebs'' Grote, 1874 (Ontario and New Hampshire) badia Moths of North America Moths described in 1866 {{Catocalini-stub