This may be my most frequently encountered moth that I haven't been able to identify. It's a Noctuid, but I have no other clue even. I see them through much of the season. Most records have been in Queens co. NY, either at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge or in my back yard, where I believe this picture was taken.

ID: Speckled Rustic (Platyperigea multifera)

This species seems similar to the above, if not the same. Notable is the difference in the rufous in the subterminal area -- separated spots above, an unbroken line on this one. This one was found at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, August 13, 2002.

ID: Speckled Rustic (Platyperigea multifera), variation

Muttontown Preserve, Nassau co., NY, June 11, 2002. Several were recorded on this night and I have many records, mostly from June. I believe it's in the Amphipyrinae group, maybe close to the Common Pinkband, for which I don't see mention of such colors.

Ward Pound Ridge Reservation, Westchester co., NY, June 16, 2001. The color of this one, you would think, should make it easy to identify. But if it's on a black and white plate or not in the book, what can you do?  

ID: Ruddy Quaker (Protorthodes oviduca), a much better colored one than I was used to seeing.

Muttontown Preserve, Nassau co., NY, May 28, 2002. This one looks pretty in a colorful photograph, but probably like a blob on one of the black and white plates. The large orbicular and reniform spots suggest to me the Hadeninae subfamily.

ID: Bordered Apamea (Apamea finitima)

Muttontown Preserve, Nassau co., NY, July 11, 2002. The distinctive shape of this one is suggestive of Yellow Scallop Moth (Anomis erosa). But the color and the median line of the fore wing cast a doubt on that identification.

ID: (Anomis commoda)

 Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, Queens co., NY, July 23, 2001. A number of these were found around Jamaica Bay over the second half of July 2001. It's obviously a dagger moth, but that's a large and tough group.

ID: Speared Dagger Moth (Acronicta hasta)

Croton Point, Westchester co., NY, November 11, 2002. Here's another one of impressive color. Throw in the fact that it was recorded on such a late date, it should in theory be easy to pin down. But that's only a theory.

ID: Variegated Cutworm Moth (Peridroma saucia), a much redder individual than shown in Covell.

Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, Queens co. NY, June 20, 2002. The first candidate to be found in Covell is Black-barred Brown (Plagiomimicus pityochromus), but it doesn't seem quite right. Although Covell and Forbes put it range in New York, it is considered rare in the Northeast.

Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, Queens co. NY, August 13, 2002. My initial instinct was to place this in the Acontiinae subfamily. The shape is not bad either for a Pyralid, but that prominent reniform spot is suggestive of a Noctuid. Similar looking bugs were recorded again on September 16 and 21, the latter in Westchester county.

ID: (Hellula rogatalis), yes a Pyralid.

Moths that confound, confuse, or just don't fit in.  Please send
  any thoughts or comments to Steve Walter SWalter@nyc.rr.com