| | Insects of Britain and Ireland: the genera of Lepidoptera-Noctuidae |
Cuphanoa Hübner, Monima Hübner, Orthoa Billberg, Semiophora Stephens, Taeniocampa Guenée
Adults. Head rough (-haired). Eyes hairy; not ciliated. Antennae of males (bi) dentate, or bipectinate (mostly).
Wingspan 28–46 mm. Thorax and abdomen coloured like the forewings, or the abdomen like the hindwings. Forewings fuscous, light olive- or reddish-brown, or buff to pale brown with rosy tinge; almost plain, or patterned transversely, or longitudinally streaked, or complexly patterned; the patterning well marked, or obscure (commonly); reniform defined (but often only faintly); orbicular defined to undefined; claviform undefined. Hindwings white, or fuscous, or whitish-fuscous and pinkish, or grey; plain to terminally darkened; with a clear discal mark, or without a clear discal mark (mostly); 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. Posterior tibiae without spines (?). Abdomen not crested.
Living adults found March to May, or August to October (The Orthosia species are mostly on the wing in the Spring months, sometimes perhaps after hibernation, and are commonly attracted to Sallow bloom).
Larvae, pupae. Larvae posteriorly rounded; feeding on foliage of diverse Dicot herbs, trees and shrubs - especially Quercus and Salix; pupating on the surface of the ground, or in the soil.
British representation. 9 species. Status in Britain indigenous. South-east England, Central-southern England, South-west England, English Midlands, Northern England, Southern Scotland, Northern Scotland, Wales, and Ireland; cerasi (Common Quaker), cruda (Small Quaker), gothica (Hebrew Character), gracilis (Powdered Quaker), incerta (Clouded Drab), miniosa (Blossom Underwing), munda (Twin-spotted Quaker), opima (Northern Drab), populeti (Lead-coloured Drab).
Hadeninae.
Illustrations. • 9 Orthosia species (Quakers and Drabs): Newman. ORTHOSIA. 1, O. cruda (Small Quaker); 2, O. miniosa (Blossom Underwing); 3, O. populeti (Lead-coloured Drab); 4, O. cerasi (Common Quaker); 5, O. gothica (Hebrew Character); 6(a) and (b), O. opima (Northern Drab); 7, O. gracilis (Powdered Quaker); 8, O. munda (Twin-spotted Quaker); 9(a)-(e), O. incerta (Clouded Drab). From Newman. • British Orthosia species (Quakers and Drabs): photos. ORTHOSIA. 1–5, O. incerta (Clouded Drab); 6, O. populeti (Lead-coloured Drab); 7, O. opima (Northern Drab); 8 and 9, O. gothica (Hebrew Character); 10 and 11, O. cerasa (Common Quaker); 12 and 13, O. gracilis (Powdered Quaker); 14 and 15, O. cruda (Small Quaker); 16–20, O. munda (Twin-spotted Quaker). Exemplifying marked polymorphism in O. munda, and a high incidence of melanism in O. incerta, in collections made from the same locality.
1–5 and 8–20: Ballington Wood, Leek, Staffs., April-May 1948–1958. 6, provenance unknown. 7, Wallasey, May 1936 (E.G. & R.G. Warren). The scale is approximate. From Watson’s collection. • Hadeninae: Kirby. HADENINAE. 1, Orthosia gothica (Hebrew Character); 2, Orthosia miniosa Blossom Underwing); 3, Orthosia cruda (Small Quaker); 4, Orthosia cerasi (Common Quaker); 5, Orthosia gracilis (Powdered Quaker); 6, Orthosia incerta (Clouded Drab); 7, Orthosia munda (Twin-spot Quaker); 8, Panolis flammea (Pine Beauty); 12, Mythimna pallens (Common Wainscot); 13, Mythimna comma (Shoulder-striped Wainscot); 14, Mythimna conigera (Brown-line Bright Eye); 15, Mythimna L-album; 16, Egira spicillaris (Silver Cloud). From Kirby 36–38.
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’.
