| | Insects of Britain and Ireland: the genera of Lepidoptera-Noctuidae |
Adults. Head rough. Eyes glabrous; not ciliated. Antennae of males ciliate. Tongue well developed.
Wingspan 38–44 mm. Forewings greyish-whitish and rich sepia brown; neither green nor greenish tinged; rosy marked or tinged, or neither purplish nor rosy marked or tinged; complexly patterned; the patterning well marked (with the dark central region sharply demarcated); reniform defined; orbicular defined to undefined (sometimes reduced to a mere dash); claviform undefined. Hindwings fuscous; plain; 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 rear). Middle tibiae without spines. Posterior tibiae without spines. Abdomen crested.
Living adults found in June.
Larvae, pupae. Larvae not conspicuously hairy; feeding on foliage of various, unrelated Dicot shrubs and herbs - Rubus, Salix, Vaccinium, Impatiens, Polygonum, etc.; pupating in the soil (just below the surface).
British representation. 1 species; Northern England, Southern Scotland, Northern Scotland, and Ireland; rectilinea (The Saxon).
Amphipyrinae.
Illustrations. • H. rectilinea (The Saxon), with 7 related genera: Newman. 1, Enargia paleacea (Angle-striped Sallow); 2, Parastichtis ypsillon (The Dismal, Dingy Shears); 3, Dicycla oo (The Heart Moth); 4, Mesoligia literosa (Rosy Minor); 5,(a)-(c), Mesoligia furuncula (Cloaked Minor); 6, Eremobia ochroleuca (Dusky Sallow); 7(a)-(c), Cosmia trapezina (The Dun-bar); 8, Cosmia affinis (Lesser-spotted Pinion); 9, Cosmia pyralina (Lunar-spotted Pinion); 10, Cosmia diffinis (White-spotted Pinion); 11, Hyppa rectilinea (The Saxon); 12(a)-(d), Oligia strigilis (Marbled Minor); 13, Oligia fasciuncula (Middle-barred Minor); 14(a)-(e), Mesapamea secalis (Common Rustic). From Newman, 1869. • H. rectilinea, with Cuculliinae, Amphipyrinae and Noctuinae: Kirby 40. CUCULLIINAE. 1, Dryobotodes eremita (Brindled Green); 2, Dichonia aprilina (Merveille-du-Jour); 3, Lamprosticta culta; 4, Meganephria bimaculosa (Double-spot Brocade); 5, Allophyes oxyacanthae (Green-brindled Crescent); 6, Valeria oleagina (Green Brindled Dot); 10, Blepharita satura (Beautiful Arches); 11, Eremobia ochroleuca (Dusky Sallow); 22, Hyppa rectilinea (Clouded Brocade); 23, Auchmis detersa. AMPHIPYRINAE. 7, Luperina testacea (Flounced Rustic); 8, Thalophila matura (Straw Underwing); 9, Calamia tridens virens (Burren Green); 12, Apamea lateritia (Scarce Brindle); 13, Apamea monoglypha (Dark Arches); 14, Apamea lithoxylaea (Light Arches); 15, Apamea sordens (Rustic Shoulder-knot); 16, Apamea crenata (Clouded-bordered Brindle); 17, Apamea remissa (Dusky Brocade); 18, Mesapamea secalis (Common Rustic); 19, Oligia strigilis (Marbled Minor); 20, Mesoligia furuncula (Cloaked Minor); 21, Dypterygia scabriuscula (Bird's Wing); 25, Callopistria juventina; 26, Polyphaenis sericata. NOCTUINAE. 24, Actinotia polyodon (Purple Cloud). From Kirby 40, 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’.
