Conistra erythrocephala, the red-headed chestnut, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is distributed in central and southern Europe and is recorded from Asia Minor, (Amasia).[1]
| Conistra erythrocephala | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Superfamily: | Noctuoidea |
| Family: | Noctuidae |
| Genus: | Conistra |
| Subgenus: | Conistra (Dasycampa) |
| Species: | C. erythrocephala
|
| Binomial name | |
| Conistra erythrocephala (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775)
| |
Technical description and variation
editC. erythrocephala F. (35 g). Forewing dull red-brown, suffused to a greater or less degree with grey; lines obscure, indistinctly double ; the submarginal with a darker blotch before it on costa; upper stigmata generally filled up with grey, with paler brown-edged annuli, often obscure and unicolorous : the reniform generally with black spots round its lower end; hindwing greyish fuscous; the fringe pale ochreous; in ab. glabra Hbn. (35 g) the ground colour is darker, more purplish-brown, with the costal streak, the two stigmata, and a submarginal fascia pale grey; the lines are also generally paler and more evident; — ab. impunctata Spul. (35 g) has the reniform stigma unmarked by black points, the other markings being often in these cases more obscure, and the ground colour striated with dark; in pallida Tutt (35 g) the dark ground colour is overlaid and hidden by pale grey suffusion. Larva grey brown or yellowish-brown; dorsal and subdorsal lines fine and pale, the latter sometimes obsolete; the dorsum dotted with white; spiracles black. [2] The wingspan is around 38 mm (1.5 in).
Biology
editThe moths fly from August/September to early May (it is active in Winter). The caterpillars live from mid-April to June.
Recorded food plants
editThe larvae feed on young leaves of oak (Quercus species) and elm (Ulmus species) before descending to feed on herbaceous plants.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b Kimber, Ian. "Red-headed Chestnut Conistra erythrocephala". UKmoths. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
- ^ Warren. W. in Seitz, A. Ed., 1914 Die Großschmetterlinge der Erde, Verlag Alfred Kernen, Stuttgart Band 3: Abt. 1, Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen eulenartigen Nachtfalter, 1914
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
