| | Insects of Britain and Ireland: the genera of Lepidoptera-Noctuidae |
Graptolitha Hübner, Rhizolitha Curtis
Adults. Head rough. Eyes glabrous; ciliated. Antennae of males ciliate.
Wingspan 34–52 mm. Thorax and abdomen coloured like the forewings, or the abdomen like the hindwings. Forewings grey, light to dark brown or umber, or ochreous; neither purplish nor rosy marked or tinged; longitudinally streaked, or complexly patterned; the patterning well marked, or obscure; reniform defined; orbicular defined; claviform defined, or undefined. Hindwings white, or whitish; 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 (prominently anteriorly). Posterior tibiae without spines. Abdomen crested.
Living adults found August to September, or September to December, or January to April (most hibernating).
Larvae, pupae. Larvae posteriorly rounded; feeding on foliage of diverse deciduous trees and shrubs, notably Quercus, Tilia, Betula, Prunus, Fraxinus; pupating on the surface of the ground, or in the soil.
British representation. 6 species; South-east England, Central-southern England, South-west England, English Midlands, Northern England, Southern Scotland, Northern Scotland, Wales, and Ireland; furcifera (The Conformist), hepatica (Pale Pinion), lamda (The Nonconformist), leautieri (Blair’s Shoulder-knot), ornitopus (Grey Shoulder-knot), semibrunnea (Tawny Pinion).
Cuculliinae.
Illustrations. • 5 British Lithophane species, with Calophasia and Meganephria. 1, Lithophane semibrunnea (Tawny Pinion); 2, Lithophane hepatica (Pale Pinion); 3, Lithophane ornitopus (Grey Shoulder-knot); 4, Lithophane furcifera (The Conformist); 5(a) and (b), Lithophane lambda (The Nonconformist); 6, Meganephria bimaculosa (Double-spot Brocade); 7, Calophasia lunula (Toadflax Brocade); 8, Calophasia platyptera (Antirrhinum Brocade). • Lithophane semibrunnea (Tawny Pinion): Stephens II, 1830. • 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 (The Conformist); 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’.
