Oligocentria pallida Strecker 1899

Barely reaches extreme southwest Alberta; known in AB from a single collection.

The only Alberta specimen was collected in early August.

The mountains of extreme southwestern Alberta, west to Vancouver Island; southward.

A medium-large (4.6-4.8 cm wingspan), pale rusty brown and tan moth, with few markings. Markings on the forewings consist of a thin dark vertical line at the end of the cell and some dark rust or maroon along the wing base and the anal angle. The outer two-thirds of the costa is grey, with a pair of short, parallel horizontal streaks near the apex. The hindwings are pale yellow or tan (male) or grey (female) with a dark patch marking the anal angle. Sexes similar, but females larger and darker. Other species of Alberta Oligocentria lack the prominent rusty-red coloring of pallida.

Dry deciduous and mixedwood woodland.

Poorly known. Larvae are solitary defoliators, and there is a single annual brood. Adults come to light.

No Alberta data; elsewhere reported to feed on willow (Salix), apple (Malus), maple (Acer) and poplar (Populus) (Miller and Hammond, 2000.); also rose (Rosa) and saskatoon (Amelanchier) (Jones, 1951).

Oligocentria pallida, the pale prominent, is a species of moth in the family Notodontidae (the prominents). It was first described by Strecker in 1899 and it is found in North America.

The MONA or Hodges number for Oligocentria pallida is 8014.