| | Insects of Britain and Ireland: the genera of Lepidoptera-Noctuidae |
Adults. Head rough. Eyes hairy; not ciliated. Antennae of males ciliate.
Wingspan 40–50 mm. The thorax coloured like the forewings, the abdomen dark-crested but otherwise like the hindwings. Forewings very dark brown or fuscous and blackish, often variegated with chestnut; complexly patterned; the patterning obscure (apart from the spectacular reniform); reniform defined (clear white, outlined in black); orbicular defined to undefined; claviform defined (detectably outlined dark), or undefined. Hindwings whitish-fuscous and fuscous; 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 (front and back). Posterior tibiae without spines (?). Abdomen crested.
Living adults found June and July.
Larvae, pupae. Larvae posteriorly humped; feeding on foliage of diverse herbs, e.g., anemones and lupins, also Sambucus; pupating in the soil.
British representation. 1 species; South-east England, Central-southern England, South-west England, English Midlands, Northern England, Southern Scotland, Northern Scotland, Wales, and Ireland (local); persicariae (The Dot).
Hadeninae.
Illustrations. • Hadeninae: M. persicariae (The Dot), and 8 related genera: Newman. 1(a) and (b), Anarta myrtillae (Beautiful Yellow Underwing); 2, Anarta melanopa (Broad-bordered White Underwing); 3, Anarta cordigera (Small Dark Yellow Underwing); 4, Discestra trifolii (The Nutmeg); 5(a) and (b), Polia nebulosa (Grey Arches, normal forms); 5(c) and (d), Polia nebulosa (Grey Arches, varieties); 6, Polia trimaculosa (Silvery Arches); 7, Polia bombycina (Pale-shining Brown); 8, Pachetra sagittigera britannica (Feathered Ear); 9, Sideridis albicolon (White Colon); 10, MELANCHRA persicariae (The Dot); 11, Hada plebeja (The Shears); 12, Heliophobus reticulata (Bordered Gothic); 13, Mamestra brassicae (Cabbage Moth). From Newman, 1869. • Noctuinae (1–10) and Hadeninae: Kirby 35. 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).
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’.
