Noctua Pronuba

[jhimmel at connix.com]

I had looked into the first appearance of N. pronuba for an article I wrote for 
the CT Butterfly Association Newsletter.  This was after discovering it in my 
yard on June 13, 1996.  What I learned, mostly from Don Lafontaine at 
Agriculture Canada, was 1) It was accidentally introduced into Nova Scotia about 
1979.  It was first recorded in Halifax.  It was probably not around much before 
that since one was collected in 1979 and it was common within a few years.  It 
reached Fredericton, New Bruswick and Newfoundland in 1984, and Maine in 1985.  
By 1996, it had reached Maryland and was still spreading fast.

2) It was first recorded in CT in 1993 - whcih was pertinent to my own 
curiosity.

3) The most comprehensive paper, at least by 1996, was published by Steve Passoa 
in June of that year (Distribution, identification, and rate of spread of N. 
pronuba [Lepidoptera: Noctuidae] in the NE US Ent. News, 107 (3): 151-160, 1996) 

It can also be found in David Carter's "Butterflies and Moths", one of the 
Eyewitness Handbooks.  That's how I was first able to identify it.

They are very common in CT, hitting the light sheet like drunken bombers!

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John Himmelman
Killingworth, CT USA
jhimmel at connix.com
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