Aseptis characta

Distinguished from similar Aseptis species by the combination of ash gray to pale tan forewings with variable olive-gray, tan, or orange-tan patches, and the pattern of double dark gray lines with pale gray fill. The black wedges between veins in the postmedial area and the three black-outlined spots are diagnostic features. The relatively pale hindwing (gray to white) with dark discal spot and terminal line separates it from darker-winged congeners.

Wingspan 29.5–35 mm. Forewings ash gray to pale tan, often darker gray in medial area with variable olive-gray, tan, or orange-tan patches. Basal, antemedial and postmedial lines double, dark gray filled with pale gray. Postmedial area lighter with shade preceding pale subterminal line; black wedges present between veins. Three spots outlined in black, filled with ground color and peripheral lighter gray scales (except claviform spot). Hindwing gray, pale gray, or white with dark discal spot, veins, and terminal line; darker in females.

Dry habitats including sagebrush steppe, juniper woodlands, and open forest. Found from sea level to 2,500 meters elevation. Xeric conditions favor earlier adult emergence.

Western North America: western Great Plains, Great Basin, and Pacific regions. Recorded from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Colorado, Utah, northern Arizona, and southern California.

Adults emerge earliest in xeric habitats, typically April in California and mid-May in the Pacific Northwest. Flight period extends until July to August depending on locality.

Larvae feed on Artemisia species.

• Artemisia - larval food plantGenus of sagebrush and related plants

• Other Aseptis speciesAseptis characta differs in forewing coloration (ash gray to pale tan with olive-gray, tan, or orange-tan patches) and the relatively pale hindwing compared to darker congeners; specific spot and line patterns also distinguish it.

• moth
• Noctuidae
• western North America
• sagebrush
• Artemisia feeder

• BugGuide
• Wikipedia
• GBIF taxonomy match
• iNaturalist taxon
• NCBI Taxonomy
• Catalogue of Life