| | Insects of Britain and Ireland: the genera of Lepidoptera-Noctuidae |
Adults. Head rough. Face without any conspicuous prominence. Eyes glabrous; not ciliated. Antennae of males ciliate.
Wingspan 28–45 mm. Head and thorax coloured like the forewings the abdomen usually paler like the hindwings but sometimes terminally rufous-tufted. Forewings variously light to dark or reddish browns (sometimes purple-tinged), ochreous, or ochreous-grey; pale ochreous, or ochreous, or purple, purplish, red, pinkish or rosy, or light brown, or brown, or pale fuscous, or pale grey, or grey, or reddish brown; neither green nor greenish tinged; purplish marked or tinged, or neither purplish nor rosy marked or tinged; patterned transversely, or complexly patterned; the patterning well marked, or obscure; reniform defined; orbicular defined. Hindwings whitish-fuscous, or fuscous, or grey; plain, or terminally darkened; with a clear discal mark, or without a clear discal mark; without transverse lines; exhibiting vein 5. Vein 5 of the hindwings strong (distally); arising nearer to vein 6 than to vein 4. Thorax crested (front and rear). Middle tibiae with spines. Posterior tibiae with spines. Abdomen not crested.
Living adults found May to July, or August.
Larvae, pupae. Larvae feeding on diverse Dicot herbs and shrubs; pupating on the surface of the ground.
British representation. 6 species; South-east England, Central-southern England, South-west England, English Midlands, Northern England, Southern Scotland, Northern Scotland, Wales, and Ireland; brunnea (Purple Clay), dahlii (Barred Chestnut), florida (Fen Square Spot, = rubi?), mendica (Ingrailed Clay), rubi (Small Square Spot).
Noctuinae.
Illustrations. • Noctuinae: 4 Diarsia species with related genera: Newman. 1(a)-(c), Peridroma saucia (Pearly Underwing); 2, Anaplectoides prasina (Green Arches); 3(a)-(f), Diarsia mendica mendica (Ingrailed Clay); 4, Diarsia dahlii (Barred Chestnut); 5, Naenia typica (The Gothic); 6, Diarsia rubi (Small Square-spot); 7, Diarsia brunnea (Purple Clay); 8(a) and (b), Eurois occulta (Great Brocade). From Newman (1869). • Diarsia mendica (Ingrailed Clay, light and dark forms: photos). Diarsia mendica (Ingrailed Clay). Light and dark forms, from Leek (Staffs.), 1957.
From Watson's collection. • Noctuinae: Kirby. NOCTUINAE. : 8 and 20, Xestia ditrapezium (Triple-spotted Clay); 9, Noctua janthe (Lesser Broad-border); 10, "Hiria linogrisea", cf. Epiplecta; 11, Noctua fimbria (Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing); 12, Graphiophora augur (Double Dart); 13, Spaelotis ravida (Stout Dart); 14, Noctua pronuba (Yellow Underwing); 15, Noctua orbona (Lunar Yellow Underwing); 16, Noctua comes (Lesser Yellow Underwing); 17, Xestia triangulum (Double Square Spot); 18, Xestia baja (Dotted Clay ); 19, Xestia c-nigrum (Setaceous Hebrew Character); 20, Xestia ditrapezium (Triple-spotted Clay); 21, Diarsia brunnea (Purple Clay); 22, Diarsia mendica (Ingrailed Clay); 23, Paradiarsia glareosa (Autumnal Rustic); 24, Chersotis multangula; 25, Chersotis cuprea; 26, Chersotis ocellina; 27, Ochropleura plectra (Flame Shoulder). From Kirby 34, with names updated.
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’.
