Cerastis rubricosa

Red chestnut
	Caterpillar
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Superfamily:	Noctuoidea
Family:	Noctuidae
Genus:	Cerastis
Species:	C. rubricosa
Binomial name
	Cerastis rubricosa; (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775)
Synonyms
	Noctua rubricosa [Schiffermüller], 1775; Phalaena (Noctua) mucida Esper, 1790; Phalaena Noctua pilicornis Brahm, 1791; Noctua rufa Haworth, 1809; Noctua mista Hübner, [1813];

Cerastis rubricosa, the red chestnut, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775. It is found in most of Europe, east through the temperate regions of the Palearctic east to Japan. In the north it is found just north of the Arctic Circle. Southward it is found up to the Mediterranean Basin and Turkey.

Description

The wingspan is 32–38 millimetres (1.3–1.5 in), the forewings are red brown, varied with grey, sometimes with a purplish-brown tinge; stigmata grey with fine dark outlines; a broad angled median shade; lines all starting from black costal spots; hindwing fuscous grey; fringe grey. Generally distributed in Europe, except Spain, and found in western Siberia and western Turkestan. The form rufa Haw., the usual British form, is almost wholly rufous, and the fringe pink. - mucida Esp. is dark purplish red with the costa and subterminal shade slaty grey; - pilicornis Brahm has the red ground almost obliterated by grey suffusion, the crosslines brownish; of this pallida Tutt is merely an extreme pale form; finally, mista Hbn. is brick red with costa, crosslines, and outer margin grey.^[1]

Biology

Adults are on wing from March to May depending on the location.

Larva reddish brown, with dark bands on dorsal segments; dorsal line slightly paler: subdorsal pale yellow, narrow; spiracular line brownish, yellow in front. The larvae feed on the leaves of various plants, including Luzula, Gymnadenia conopsea, Lotus corniculatus, Veronica chamaedrys, Rhinanthus alectorolophus and Orchidaceae species.^[2]

Caterpillar
Younger caterpillar

References

^ 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
^ Robinson, Gaden S.; Ackery, Phillip R.; Kitching, Ian J.; Beccaloni, George W.; Hernández, Luis M. (2010). "Search the database - introduction and help". HOSTS - A Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants. Natural History Museum, London.

External links

Kimber, Ian. "73.336 BF2139 Red Chestnut Cerastis rubricosa ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775)". UKMoths. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
Savela, Markku. "Cerastis rubricosa ([Schiffermüller], 1775)". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved June 29, 2019. Taxonomy
Lepiforum e. V.
Schmetterlinge-Deutschlands.de Archived 2011-10-05 at the Wayback Machine

This Noctuinae-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] 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

[2] Robinson, Gaden S.; Ackery, Phillip R.; Kitching, Ian J.; Beccaloni, George W.; Hernández, Luis M. (2010). "Search the database - introduction and help". HOSTS - A Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants. Natural History Museum, London.

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