Darling Underwing

The wingspan is 70–85 mm. The forewings are dark purplish brown above, and light cream below. The hindwings have a deep scarlet-pink ground color with a pattern of two clean concentric blackish bands per wing, one through the midwing and one along the pale outer margin. The hindwing base is heavily covered in dark hairs; at a casual glance it may thus appear as if at the center of the dark bands there is a black spot or streak. As in many relatives, the foreleg tibia of this species possess no spines, while the tarsi carry three rows of spines. The adult moths flies from June to October depending on the location. The caterpillars feed on Populus (poplar and cottonwood) and Salix (willow) species, especially black willow (S. nigra).