| | Insects of Britain and Ireland: the genera of Lepidoptera-Noctuidae |
Metaxyja Hübner, Exarnis Hübner, Brotis Hübner, Telmia Hübner
Adults. Head rough. Face with a small truncate-conical prominence having a raised rim. Eyes glabrous; not ciliated. Antennae of males dentate.
Wingspan 28–40 mm. The head and thorax coloured like the forewings, the abdomen lighter than them and coloured like the hindwings or darker than the hindwings. Forewings ochreous, dark or reddish brown, slate grey, dark purple-tinged grey-brown or blackish; complexly patterned (with dark and pale markings, often with a pale streak along the basal half of the costa); the patterning well marked to obscure; reniform defined; orbicular defined (often linked with the reniform by a dark streak); claviform defined. Hindwings white to whitish, or whitish-fuscous, or fuscous; plain, or terminally darkened (usually); 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 July and August.
Larvae, pupae. Larvae feeding on diverse Dicot herbs; pupating in the soil (deeply, or near the surface).
British representation. 4 species; South-east England, Central-southern England, South-west England, English Midlands, Northern England, Southern Scotland, Northern Scotland, Wales, and Ireland; E. cursoria (Coast Dart), E. nigricans (Garden Dart), E. obelisca (Square-spot Dart), E. tritici (White-line Dart).
Noctuinae.
Illustrations. • British Euxoa species: Coast, Garden, White-line and Square-spot Darts: Newman. EUXOA. 533, E. cursoria (Coast Dart); 534, E. nigricans (Garden Dart); 535(a-c) and 536, E. tritici (White-line Dart; 537, E. obelisca (Square-spot Dart). From Newman (1869). • Noctuinae and Hadeninae: Kirby. NOCTUINAE. 1,Rhacia simulans (True Lover's Knot); 2, Acylia putris (Flame); 3, Agrotis exclamationis (Heart and Dart); 4, Euxoa tritica (White Line Dart); 5, Agrotis ipsilon (Dark Sword-grass); 6, Agrotis segetum (Common Dart, or Turnip Moth); 7, Agrotis vestigialis (Archer's Dart); 8, Ochropleura praecox (Portland Moth); 9, Anaplectoides prasina (Green Arches); 10, Eurois occulta (Great Brocade). HADENINAE. 11, Cerapteryx graminis (Antler Moth); 12, Tholera decimalis (Feathered Gothic); 13, Pacheta sagittigera (Feathered Ear); 14, Polia bombycina (Pale Shinibg Brown); 15, Polia trimaculosa (Silvery Arches); 16, Polia nebulosa (Grey Arches); 17, Lacanobia contigua (Beautiful Brocade); 18, Ceramica pisi (Broom Moth); 19, Mamestra brassicae (Cabbage Moth); 20, Melanchra persicariae (Dot). Kirby 35.
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’.
