Conistra erythrocephala

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)

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]

Technical description and variation

C. 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

The moths fly from August/September to early May (it is active in Winter). The caterpillars live from mid-April to June.

Recorded food plants

The larvae feed on young leaves of oak (Quercus species) and elm (Ulmus species) before descending to feed on herbaceous plants.^[1]

References

^ ^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.

External links

[ukmoths-1] Kimber, Ian. "Red-headed Chestnut Conistra erythrocephala". UKmoths. Retrieved 9 March 2022.

[2] 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.

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