False Hemlock Looper

Not of concern.

Adults fly in late August and September in Alberta.

Northeastern Alberta east to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, south through New England.

Wings grey-white heavily dusted with dark grey, median area slightly darker and bordered with scalloped, prominent AM and PM lines. Discal spots large. Slightly darker and smaller than the similar Cingilia caternaria. N. freemani is very similar, but lacks the yellow scales at the top of the head of canosaria; the ranges of the two do not overlap, with freemani strictly a foothills/mountain species in Alberta.

Coniferous boreal forest.

The caterpillar is boldly striped with green and yellow, a pattern helping it to blend in to the needles of its coniferous hosts. Pupates in a flimsy cocoon among host foliage. Adults are both diurnal and nocturnal (McGuffin 1987).

Larvae feed on conifers, particularly balsam fir (Abies balsamaea) and white spruce (Picea glauca).

Nepytia canosaria, the false hemlock looper, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Francis Walker in 1863. It is found from southwest British Columbia east to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, south through New England.

Caterpillar Pupa

The wingspan is about 30 mm. The moth flies from August to September depending on the location.

The larva feeds on balsam fir, eastern hemlock, spruces and occasionally other conifer species.