About Acronicta modica Walker, 1856
Acronicta modica, commonly known as the hesitant dagger, is a moth species belonging to the family Noctuidae. This moth is found in eastern North America, with its range extending from Nova Scotia south to Florida, and west to Oklahoma and Texas. Its wingspan measures approximately 35 millimetres, and its larvae feed on a variety of oak species. Taxonomic research recently confirmed that the type specimen originally assigned to Acronicta modica actually belongs to the species Acronicta haesitata. Due to the rules of taxonomic naming priority, this discovery required a reshuffling of species names: the population previously called Acronicta modica (the medium dagger moth) was renamed Acronicta immodica, while the species previously known as Acronicta haesitata (the hesitant dagger moth) was reassigned the name Acronicta modica. Acronicta haesitata is now treated as a taxonomic synonym of Acronicta modica.
