Montana Field Guide

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Montana Field Guides

Home - Other Field Guides
- Kingdom - Animals - Animalia
  - Phylum - Spiders, Insects, and Crustaceans - Arthropoda
    - Class - Insects - Insecta
      - Order - Butterflies / Moths - Lepidoptera
        
        Family - Owlet Moths / Miller Moths - Noctuidae
        
        Species - Lesser Yellow Underwing Moth - Noctua comes

Lesser Yellow Underwing Moth - Noctua comes

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Native Species

Global Rank: GNR
State Rank: SNR

Agency Status
USFWS:
USFS:
BLM:

External Links

General Description

Adults of the Lesser Yellow Underwing Moth (Noctua comes) have pale brown camouflaged forewings and bright yellow-orange hindwings with hooked, dark border markings. The larvae are smooth and grayish with dark flecked markings (Natural England no date).

Phenology

In England, the larvae appear from September to October, hibernate and then reappear between April and June. The adults fly from July to September (Natural England no date).

Range Comments

The Lesser Yellow Underwing Moth is a European species first seen in the Vancouver, British Columbia area in 1982 (McLeod 2005). It is common and widely distributed in England (Natural England no date).

Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database

Number of Observations: 4

(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version) Map Help and Descriptions

Relative Density

Recency

(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)

Food Habits

The larvae feed on various grasses, hawthorn, goat willow, blackthorn, hawthorn, sallow, heather, docks, foxglove and many other trees and plants (Natural England no date).

Stewardship Responsibility

References

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Dragonflies / Damselflies

Ferns and allies

Conifers

Flowering Plants (Dicots)

Flowering Plants (Monocots)

Citation for data on this website:
Lesser Yellow Underwing Moth — Noctua comes. Montana Field Guide. Montana Natural Heritage Program. Retrieved on April 8, 2025, from https://FieldGuide.mt.gov/speciesDetail.aspx?elcode=IILEYMY020