| | Insects of Britain and Ireland: the genera of Lepidoptera-Noctuidae |
Excluding Eumichtis Hübner
Adults. Head rough. Face without any conspicuous prominence. Eyes glabrous; ciliated. Antennae of males ciliate.
Wingspan 38–50 mm. Thorax coloured and mottled like the forewings, the abdomen like the hindwings (P. xanthomista), or the abdomen more like the hindwings. Forewings grey; pale grey, or grey; neither green nor greenish tinged; neither purplish nor rosy marked or tinged; complexly patterned; the patterning well marked to obscure; reniform defined; orbicular defined; claviform defined. Hindwings white to whitish, or grey; plain, or terminally darkened; without a clear discal mark; 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 crested (prominently anteriorly). Posterior tibiae without spines. Abdomen crested.
Living adults found August and September.
Larvae, pupae. Larvae posteriorly rounded; feeding on diverse herbaceous Dicots, also Hedera, Lonicera; pupating on the surface of the ground, or in the soil.
British representation. 3 species; South-east England, Central-southern England, South-west England, English Midlands, Northern England, Wales, and Ireland; flavicincta (Large Ranunculus), gemmea (Cameo, adventive), xanthomista (The Black-banded).
Cuculliinae.
Illustrations. • P. flavicincta (Large Ranunculus) and P. xanthomista xanthomista (The Black-banded),with 8 related genera: Newman. 1(a), Blepharita satura (Beautiful Brocade); 1(b), Blepharita adusta (Dark Brocade); 2, POLYMIXIS flavicincta (Large Ranunculus); 3, Polymixis xanthomista xanthomista (The Black-banded); 4, Parastichtis suspecta (The Suspected); 5(a)-(c), Antitype chi (Grey Chi); 6(a) and (b), Eupsilia transversa (The Satellite); 7(a) and (b), Eumichtis lichenea (Feathered Ranunculus); 8, Jodia croceago (Orange Upper-wing); 9, Conistra vaccinii (The Chestnut); 10, Conistra ligula (Dark Chestnut); 11, Conistra rubiginea (Dotted Chestnut); 12, Conistra erythrocephala (Red-headed Chestnut); 13(a) and (b), Omphaloscelis lunosa (Lunar Underwing). From Newman (1869). • Hadeninae and Cuculliinae: Kirby. HADENINAE. 1, Lacanobia thalassina (Pale-shouldered Brocade); 2, Lacanobia suasa (Dog's Tooth); 3, Lacanobia oleracea (Bright-line Brown-eye); 4, Lacanobia w-latinum (Light Brocade); 5, Hada plebeja (Shears); 6, Dicestra trifolii (Nutmeg); 7, Heliophobus reticulata; 8, Hecatera dysodea (Ranunculus Moth); 9, Hecatera bicolorata (Broad-barred White); 10, Hadena caesia; 11, Hadena confusa (Marbled Coronet); 12, Hadena compta; 13, Hadena bicruris (Lychnis); 14, Hadena rivularis (Campion Moth); 15, Hadena perplexa (Tawny Shears); 16, Hadena irregularis; 17, “Episema trimacula”, cf. E. tersa. CUCULLIINAE. 18, Aporophyla nigra (Black Rustic); 19, Ammoconia caecimacula; 20, Polymixis polymita; 21, Polymixis flavicincta (Large Ranunculus); 22, Antitype chi (Grey Chi). From Kirby 39, 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’.
