| | Insects of Britain and Ireland: the genera of Lepidoptera-Noctuidae |
Adults. Head rough. Eyes hairy; not ciliated. Antennae of males ciliate.
Wingspan 34–38 mm. Head and thorax coloured like the forewings, the abdomen paler like the hindwings. Forewings dark grey to blackish fuscous; complexly patterned; the patterning well marked; reniform defined; orbicular defined; claviform defined. Hindwings whitish-fuscous, or grey; plain to terminally darkened; with a clear discal mark, or without a clear discal mark; without transverse lines; exhibiting vein 5. Vein 5 of the hindwings weak; arising nearer to vein 6 than to vein 4. Thorax crested (front and back). Posterior tibiae without spines (?). Abdomen crested.
Living adults found June and July.
Larvae, pupae. Larvae posteriorly rounded; feeding on (especially) Chenopodiaceae and Polygonaceae.
British representation. 1 species; South-east England, Central-southern England, South-west England, English Midlands, Northern England, Southern Scotland, Northern Scotland, Wales, and Ireland; trifolii (The Nutmeg).
Hadeninae.
Illustrations. • Hadeninae: D. trifolii (The Nutmeg), and related genera: Newman. 1(a) and (b), Anarta myrtillae (Beautiful Yellow Underwing); 2, Anarta melanopa (Broad-bordered White Underwing); 3, Anarta cordigera (Small Dark Yellow Underwing); 4, DISCESTRA trifolii (The Nutmeg); 5(a) and (b), Polia nebulosa (Grey Arches, normal forms); 5(c) and (d), Polia nebulosa (Grey Arches, varieties); 6, Polia trimaculosa (Silvery Arches); 7, Polia bombycina (Pale-shining Brown); 8, Pachetra sagittigera britannica (Feathered Ear); 9, Sideridis albicolon (White Colon); 10, Melanchra persicariae (The Dot); 11, Hada plebeja (The Shears); 12, Heliophobus reticulata (Bordered Gothic); 13, Mamestra brassicae (Cabbage Moth). • D. trifolii, with Hadeninae and Cuculliinae: Kirby. HADENINAE. 1, Lacanobia thalassina (Pale-shouldered Brocade); 2, Lacanobia suasa (Dog's Tooth); 3, Lacanobia oleracea (Bright-line Brown-eye); 4, Lacanobia w-latinum (Light Brocade); 5, Hada plebeja (Shears); 6, Dicestra trifolii (Nutmeg); 7, Heliophobus reticulata; 8, Hecatera dysodea (Ranunculus Moth); 9, Hecatera bicolorata (Broad-barred White); 10, Hadena caesia; 11, Hadena confusa (Marbled Coronet); 12, Hadena compta; 13, Hadena bicruris (Lychnis); 14, Hadena rivularis (Campion Moth); 15, Hadena perplexa (Tawny Shears); 16, Hadena irregularis; 17, “Episema trimacula”, cf. E. tersa. CUCULLIINAE. 18, Aporophyla nigra (Black Rustic); 19, Ammoconia caecimacula; 20, Polymixis polymita; 21, Polymixis flavicincta (Large Ranunculus); 22, Antitype chi (Grey Chi). From Kirby 39, 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’.
