---
title: "Large Gray Dagger"
description: "Acronicta insita — Insects & spiders. Acronicta insita, the large gray dagger or fingered dagger, is a moth of the family Noctuidae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/large-gray-dagger
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Large Gray Dagger

> Acronicta insita — Insects & spiders. Acronicta insita, the large gray dagger or fingered dagger, is a moth of the family Noctuidae.

- Scientific name: *Acronicta insita*
- Category: `insects` (Insects & spiders)
- Habitats: `forest` (Forest)
- iNaturalist observations: 8459
- Wikidata: [Q4676292](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4676292)
- iNaturalist taxon: [1063932](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/1063932)

## Names

- en: Large Gray Dagger

## Countries with the most observations

CA (3269), US (2411)

## Summary

Acronicta insita, the large gray dagger or fingered dagger, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Augustus Radcliffe Grote in 1874. It is found from Newfoundland west to the Pacific coast and Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, south to North Carolina and Colorado.
Acronicta hesperida and Acronicta dactylina were formerly considered to be separate species, but are now considered a synonym.
The wingspan is 45–55 mm. Adults are on wing from May to July in one generation depending on the location.
The larvae feed on alder, birch, poplar, hawthorn and willow.
They have fine…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acronicta_insita

## Photo

![Large Gray Dagger](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/large-gray-dagger/medium.jpg)

Photo: Jacob Friend · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/55108330

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/large-gray-dagger?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).