Orthosia populeti
Orthosia populeti, the lead-coloured drab, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in Europe.
| Lead-coloured drab Orthosia populeti | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Superfamily: | Noctuoidea |
| Family: | Noctuidae |
| Genus: | Orthosia |
| Species: | O. populeti |
| Binomial name | |
| Orthosia populeti (Fabricius, 1775) | |
The wingspan is 34–40 mm. The length of the forewings is 15–17 mm. Meyrick describes it -Antennae in male bipectinated. Forewings brown-grey, slightly purplish-tinged ; first, median, and second lines somewhat darker, especially on costa ; orbicular and reniform darker, outlined with pale ; subterminal line pale greyish-ochreous, edged anteriorly in middle with two small red-brown or black marks. Hindwings grey. Larva pale green or greenish-whitish ; dorsal, subdorsal, and spiracular lines whitish ; head pale greenish-ochreous, more or less blackmarked.[1] Orthosia populeti is difficult to certainly distinguish from its congener Orthosia incerta See Townsend et al.[2]
The moth flies in one generation from the beginning of March to May . The egg is greyish white with dark grey girdled dots. When full grown the caterpillar is whitish or yellowish green, but always whitish on the back: three white lines on the back, the central one rather broad; head ochreous brown with a blackish spot on each side. The caterpillars mainly feed on aspen.
Notes
- ^ The flight season refers to Belgium and the Netherlands. This may vary in other parts of the range.
References
- Meyrick, E., 1895 A Handbook of British Lepidoptera MacMillan, London pdf
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. - 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.
