| | Insects of Britain and Ireland: the genera of Lepidoptera-Noctuidae |
Chloridea Duncan and Westwood
Adults. Head rough. Face with a rounded prominence. Eyes glabrous; not ciliated. Antennae of males ciliate.
Wingspan 28–38 mm. Thorax and abdomen coloured like the forewings, or the abdomen lighter. Forewings ochreous, grey-ochreous, pale olive-brown, or purplish fuscous; patterned transversely, or complexly patterned; the patterning well marked; reniform defined; orbicular defined, or undefined; claviform undefined. Hindwings whitish and blackish, or whitish-fuscous and grey, or fuscous; conspicuously patterned (with a contrasty, dark terminal band sometimes containing pale spots near the inner angle); with a clear discal mark; transversely lined, or without transverse lines; exhibiting vein 5. Vein 5 of the hindwings weak; arising nearer to vein 6 than to vein 4. Thorax not crested. Middle tibiae with spines. Posterior tibiae with spines. Abdomen not crested.
Living adults found May to September.
Larvae, pupae. Larvae with red markings, or without red markings; posteriorly rounded; feeding on diverse herbaceous Dicots, including Leguminosae, Compositae, Scrophulariaceae, Caryophyllaceae and Ericaceae, especially on flowers and seeds; pupating on the surface of the ground, or in the soil (?).
British representation. 4 species (1 adventive); South-east England, Central-southern England, South-west England, English Midlands, Northern England, Southern Scotland, and Wales (local); maritima (Shoulder-striped Clover), nubigera* (Eastern Bordered Straw), peltigera (Bordered Straw), viriplaca (Marbled Clover).
Heliothinae.
Illustrations. • H. peltigera (Bordered Straw) and H. viriplaca (Marbled Clover), with other Heliothidinae and Acontiinae: Newman. HELIOTHIDINAE. 1, Pyrrhia umbra (Bordered Sallow); 2, Helicoverpa armigera (Scarce Bordered Straw); 3, Heliothis viriplaca (Marbled Clover); 4, Heliothis peltigera (Bordered Straw). ACONTIINAE. 5, Lithacodia pygarga (Marbled White Spot); 6, Eustrotia uncula (Silver Hook); 7, Eublemma ostrina (Purple Marbled); 8, Eublemma parva (Small Marbled); 9, Acontia lucida (Pale Shoulder); 10, Deltote bankiana (Silver-Barred); 11, Emmelia trabealis (Spotted Sulphur). From Newman, 1869. • Acontiinae, Amphipyrinae, Hadeninae and Heliothidinae: Kirby 42 (part). ACONTIINAE. 13, Acontia lucida (Pale Shoulder); 17, Eublemma minutata (Scarce Marbled); 18, Deltote bankiana (Silver Barred); 19, Eustrotia uncula (Silver Hook); 20, Lithacodia deceptoria (Pretty Marbled); 21, Lithacodia pygarga (Marbled White Spot); 22, Emmelia trabealis (Spotted Sulphur). AMPHIPYRINAE. 5, Panemeria tenebrata (Small Yellow Underwing). HADENINAE. 3, Anarta myrtilli (Beautiful Yellow Underwing); 4, Anarta cordigera (Small Dark Yellow Underwing). HELIOTHIDINAE. 8. Heliothis viriplaca (Marbled Clover); 9, Protoschinia scutosa (Spotted Clover); 10, Heliothis peltigera (Bordered Straw); 11, Periphanes delphinii (Pease Blossom); 12, Pyrrhia umbra (Bordered Sallow) . CATOCALINAE. 28, Minucia lunaris (Lunar Double Stripe).
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’.
