Hoplodrina octogenaria explained

Hoplodrina octogenaria, the uncertain, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in the Palearctic realm (Europe, Russia, Turkey, Transcaucasia, Siberia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Altai, north Mongolia, North Korea, and north China).

Description

The wingspan is 28–34 mm. The ground colour is rich brown or tawny brown; darker in the female. The reniform and orbicular spots are darker than the ground colour and outlined in white. The darker-than-the-ground-colour median line is usually wide. The name uncertain refers to its being similar to and confused with Hoplodrina blanda and Hoplodrina ambigua. Certain identification requires dissection of the genitalia.See Townsend et al.^[1]

Biology

The length of the forewings is 14–16 mm. The moth flies in one generation from late May to August. .

The larvae feed on Lamium, Primula, Stellaria and Rumex species.^[2]

Notes

1. The flight season refers to Belgium and the Netherlands. This may vary in other parts of the range.

External links

• The Uncertain at UKmoths
• Funet Taxonomy
• Fauna Europaea
• Lepiforum.de Includes photographs of genitalia.
• Vlindernet.nl

Notes and References

1. Martin C. Townsend, Jon Clifton and Brian Goodey (2010). British and Irish Moths: An Illustrated Guide to Selected Difficult Species. (covering the use of genitalia characters and other features) Butterfly Conservation.
2. Web site: Robinson, G. S., P. R. Ackery, I. J. Kitching, G. W. Beccaloni & L. M. Hernández, 2010. HOSTS – A Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants. Natural History Museum, London..