pink underwing

Pink underwing is a medium to large sized, strikingly colored, underwing moth. Adults are 1¼″ to 1½″ in length and have a wingspan of 2⅜″ to 3″.

The forewings are light gray and brownish gray with thin, black, jagged, antemedial and postmedial lines. The kidney-shaped (reniform) spot is slightly paler than the surrounding background color. The hindwings are pink with a black median band, a black terminal band, and a wide, straight, uninterrupted, white fringe.

The antennae are slender and thread-like.

There is a prominent tympanal hearing organ on each side of the thorax.

Wingspan: 2⅜″ to 3″

Total length: 1¼″ to 1½″

Darling underwing (Catocala cara) forewings are darker grayish-brown and violet-brown. The fringe on the hindwing is undulating or checkered.

Once-married underwing (Catocala unijuga) forewing reniform spot is dark and there is a whitish spot in front of it. The subterminal jagged line has a broad, whitish outline in front. The fringe on the hindwing is undulating.

Shrubby riverbanks, woodland edges, urban plantings.

One generation. August to early September.

Larvae are solitary feeders.

Adults are active at night. They are attracted to light. When at rest the wings are folded roof-like over the body. When approached or disturbed they spread their forewings revealing the startling color of the hindwings, possibly to scare off or give it time to escape a predator.

Eggs overwinter.

Leaves of poplar (Populus spp.) and willow (Salix spp.).

Sources

21, 24, 27, 29, 30, 71, 75, 82, 83.

Biodiversity occurrence data published by: Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas (accessed through the Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas Portal, bellatlas.umn.edu, 7/11/2025).

Common

Pink Underwing (Catocala concumbens) on a 1/4 hardware cloth screen.

Pink Underwing Moth (Noctuidae: Catocala concumbens) in Grass
Carl Barrentine

Edward Peck
8/22/2023

Location: Springfield, VT

Location: Duluth, MN

Found on some raked crabapple piles and up in the Dolga Crabapple tree. 

Location: Rice Minnesota

2:30 pm sitting on our porch a gigantic gray moth landed near us, I approached to get a photo of it and that’s when it flew around us and landed on the ceiling fan, we saw the beautiful underwing colors. Then it flew away before we could capture a photo.

Location: Shoreview, MN

The underwing I saw had orange in place of the pink markings.

The underwing was on my coleus plant on the deck. The orange and black markings were a zig zag pattern. She opened her wings once and I was thrilled to see the colorful  markings. I found the name of this species by pure luck. The internet did not readily have photos of this moth and it’s markings.

There are at least 27 similar underwing moths in eastern North America, 21 of which occur in Minnesota. About half of these have pink or red on the hindwing, half have orange or orangish-yellow. Your underwing was likely one of the latter.

A K
7/30/2020

Location: Shoreview, MN

anonymous
early to mid summer, 2019

Location: Kerrick, MN

Location: south Minneapolis

Location: St. Wendel, Stearns County

Location: Pennington Co., MN

Pink Underwing (Catocala concumbens) on a 1/4 hardware cloth screen.