| | Insects of Britain and Ireland: the genera of Lepidoptera-Noctuidae |
Lithomia
Adults. Head rough. Face without any conspicuous prominence. Eyes glabrous; ciliated. Antennae of males ciliate.
Wingspan 44–52 mm. Thorax coloured like the forewings, the abdomen like the hindwings. Forewings light and dark grey; pale grey and grey; complexly patterned; the patterning well marked; neither shining-metallic nor with shining metallic effects; reniform defined; orbicular defined (as two or three spots); claviform undefined. Hindwings whitish and fuscous, or grey; terminally darkened; with 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 (prominently anteriorly). Posterior tibiae without spines. Abdomen crested.
Living adults found August and September.
Larvae, pupae. Larvae feeding on shoots of Ericaceae, Betulaceae, Salicaceae, Myrica, Crataegus, etc. - despite the the specific name!; pupating in the soil.
British representation. 1 species; Central-southern England, South-west England, English Midlands, Northern England, Southern Scotland, Northern Scotland, and Wales (local); solidaginis (The Golden-rod Brindle).
Cuculliinae.
Illustrations. • Lithomoia solidaginis (Golden-rod Brindle): B. Ent. 683. • Lithomoia solidaginis: B. Ent. 683, legend+text. • Lithomoia solidaginis: B. Ent. 683, text cont.. • L. solidaginis (Golden-rod Brindle)s, and 9 related genera: Newman. 1(a) and (b), Cleoceris viminalis (Minor Shoulder-knot); 2, Leucochlaena oditis (Beautiful Gothic); 3(a)-(c), Dryobotodes eremita (Brindled Green); 4(a)-(c), Dasypolia templi (Brindled Ochre); 5, Lithomoia solidaginis (Golden-rod Brindle); 6, Valeria oleagina (Green-brindled Dot); 7(a) and (b), Aporophyla australis pascuea (Feathered Brindle); 8(a) and (b), Aporophyla lutulenta lutulenta (Deep-brown Dart); 9(a) and (b), Aporophyla nigra (Black Rustic); 10(a) and (b), Allophyes oxyacanthae (Green-brindled Crescent); 11, Trigonophora flammea (Flame Brocade); 12(a) and (b), Dichonia aprilina (Merveille-du-jour). From Newman, 1869. • Cuculliinae: Kirby 37. CUCULLIINAE. 1, Xanthia gilvago (Dusky Lemon Sallow); 2, Jodia croceago (Orange Upper-wing); 3, “Mecoptera fragariae”, = ?; 4, Conistra erythrocephala (Red-headed Chestnut); 5, “Orrhodia silene”, = ?; 6, Conistra vacciniae (Chestnut); 7, Conistra rubiginea (Dotted Chestnut); 8, Eupsilia transversa (Satellite); 10, Lithophane socia (Pale Pinion); 11, Lithophane furcifera; 12, Lithophane ornitopus (Grey Shoulder-knot); 13, Xylena vetusta (Red Sword-Grass); 14, Xylena exsoleta (Sword-Grass); 15, Lithomoia solidaginis (Golden-rod Brindle); 17, Brachionycha nebulosa (Rannoch Sprawler); 18, Brachionycha sphinx (Sprawler); 19, Calophasia opalina; 20, Calophasia lunula (Toadflax Brocade). OPHIDERINAE. 9, Scoliopteryx libatrix (Herald). From Kirby 37, with updated names.
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’.
