| | Insects of Britain and Ireland: the genera of Lepidoptera-Noctuidae |
Including Megalographa Lafontaine and Poole
Adults. Head rough. Eyes glabrous; ciliated. Antennae of males shortly ciliate. Tongue well developed. Labial palps medium to long; ascending.
Wingspan 36–50 mm. Forewings umber- or rose-tinged brown, or glittering grey and brown, with a silvery white, double or single median mark; complexly patterned; the patterning well marked; predominantly shining-metallic, or exhibiting metallic-enamelled effects, or predominantly shining-metallic and exhibiting metallic-enamelled effects; reniform undefined; orbicular undefined; claviform undefined (the conventional stigmata unrecognisable in the complex pattern). Hindwings fuscous; plain, or terminally darkened, or conspicuously patterned (with A. gamma exhibiting a contrasting, dark terminal band); with a clear discal mark, or without a clear discal mark; transversely lined, or without transverse lines; exhibiting vein 5. Vein 5 of the hindwings strong; arising nearer to vein 4 than to vein 6; convergent on vein 4 near their bases. Thorax crested. Middle tibiae without spines. Posterior tibiae with spines; rough-scaled. Abdomen crested.
Living adults found May to September.
Larvae, pupae. Ventral prolegs 4, or 6. Larvae posteriorly humped to posteriorly rounded; feeding on various, unrelated Dicot herbs and shrubs; pupating on vegetative parts of the foodplant.
British representation. 6 species (two adventive). Status in Britain variously indigenous, or breeding immigrants. South-east England, Central-southern England, South-west England, English Midlands, Northern England, Southern Scotland, Northern Scotland, Wales, and Ireland; A. biloba (Stephens’s Gem, = Megalographa), A. bimaculata (Double-spotted Spangle (= Megalographa, probably a spurious record of this North American species), A. bractea (Gold Spangle), A. gamma (Silver Y), A. jota (Plain Golden Y), A. pulchrina (Beautiful Golden Y).
Plusiinae.
Illustrations. • Autographa gamma (Silver Y), A. jota (Plain Golden Y) and A. pulchrina (Beautiful Golden Y), with other Plusiinae: photos. Figs. 1–2, Autographa gamma (Silver Y); 3–4, Autographa pulchrina (Beautiful Golden Y); 5–6, Autographa jota (Plain Golden Y); 7–8, Polychrysia moneta (Golden Plusia); 9–10, Diachrysia chrysitis (Burnished Brass); 11–12, Plusia festucae (Gold Spot).
1–2, Cheddleton near Leek, Staffs., Sept. 1952; 3–6 and 9–12, Cheddleton, July 1952. 7–8, Leek, July 1951. From Watson’s collection. • A. gamma (Silver Y), A. jota (Plain Golden Y), A. pulchrina (Beautiful Golden Y) and A. bractea (Gold Spangle), with 5 other Plusiinae: Newman. 1, Abrostola trigemina (Dark Spectacle); 2, Abrostola triplasia (The Spectacle, or Light Spectacle); 3, Trichoplusia ni (Ni Moth); 4, Diachrysia chrysitis (Burnished Brass); 5, Diachrysia orichalcea (Scarce Burnished Brass); 6, Plusia festucae (Gold Spot); 7, AUTOGRAPHA gamma (Silver Y); 8, AUTOGRAPHA jota (Plain Golden Y); 9, AUTOGRAPHA pulchrina (Beautiful Golden Y); 10, AUTOGRAPHA bractea (Gold Spangle); 11, Syngrapha interrogationis (Scarce Silver Y). From Newman, 1869. • Larvae and pupae of A. gamma and Plusia festucae: Duponchel and Guénée (1849). Noctuidae. 1, Autographa gamma (Silver Y). 2, Plusia festucae (Gold Spot). Duponchel and Guénée, 1849.
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2003 onwards. Insects of Britain and Ireland: the genera of Lepidoptera-Noctuidae. Version: 14th February 2021. delta-intkey.com’.
