Orthosia incerta

Clouded drab
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Superfamily:	Noctuoidea
Family:	Noctuidae
Genus:	Orthosia
Species:	O. incerta
Binomial name
	Orthosia incerta; (Hufnagel, 1766)

Last updated August 16, 2022

Orthosia incerta, the clouded drab, is a species of moth of the family Noctuidae, found in Europe and Asia. The occurrence of the species extends through all European countries through the Palearctic to the Russian Far East and Japan. It is absent from northern Fennoscandia and in the Alps it occurs up to 2000 m above sea level.

Technical description and variation

Forewing grey, varied with fuscous dusting and striation, and often more or less tinged with rufous; inner and outer lines, where visible, marked by dark dots on veins; submargmal line variable, sometimes obscure, at others pale, and preceded by a dark shade, which may be complete or broken up into three blotches; upper stigmata large, the reniform generally dark, both edged with pale; a strong thick median shade, sometimes bent at middle and entire, often marked only at costa and inner margin; hindwing pale or dark grey with dark cellspot and pale fringe. The markings are all clearer in the grey unsuffused forms: of these the chief are pallida Lampa from Sweden with the ground colour pale grey, finely striated with dark, and the two dotted cross lines;- coerulescens Tutt with the ground colour pale bluish grey; — subsetaceus Haw.which is dark slaty grey without reddish tinge, and subcarnea nov. [Warren] greyish flesh colour and praesubmarginal shades deep brown, the hindwing dull white with submarginal band and cellspot dark: of the darker forms contracta Esp. is suffused with rufous brown, leading up to fuscatus Haw. which is dark purplish liver colour; — angustus Haw. is a rarer form, mottled with chesnutbrown and fuscous; — atra Tutt and rufa Tutt are two equally rare forms, the former unicolorous sooty blackish, the latter bright reddish. These dark suffused forms are commoner in Britain, where the paler and more typical forms are rare. Still another form, apparently undescribed - olivacea nov. [Warren] has the forewing ashy grey with a strong olive flush; the median shade and the clouds before submarginal line also deeper olive; of two males one is much more varied with olive fuscous and with the lines better marked than the other; the female is wholly dark olive fuscous, with the edges of the stigmata and the submarginal line paler; in all 3 the reniform stigma is broader and less oblique than in typical incerta; the hindwing varies from pale to dark grey with an olive tinge, with dark cellspot and whitish fringe. 2 males, 1 female, together with some more or less typical specimens, from Cedre, Hautes Pyrenees.^[1]Orthosia incerta is difficult to certainly distinguish from its congener Orthosia populeti (Fabricius, 1781).See Townsend et al.^[2]

Biology

The moth flies in one generation from the end of February to mid-May.

Larva green, dotted with yellowish white; dorsal line yellowish; subdorsal less distinct; spiracular line pale yellow, edged above with blackish; spiracles white, ringed with black; on various trees and shrubs. The larvae feed on various trees and shrubs, mainly oak.^[3]

Notes

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

Related Research Articles

The garden dart is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is distributed throughout much of the Palearctic. Temperate regions of Europe, Central Asia and North Asia, as well as the mountains of North Africa. Absent from polar regions, on Iceland and some Mediterranean islands, as well as in Macaronesia.

<i>Cerapteryx graminis</i> Species of moth

Cerapteryx graminis, the antler moth, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is a common species throughout most of Europe but is lacking in the very dry southern regions. The northernmost occurrence is Iceland, and above the Arctic circle. It also occurs in Siberia and in North Mongolia. The species has been introduced to North America. In the Alps it rises to an altitude of 2100 meters.

The common Quaker is a moth of the family Noctuidae first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775. Some authors prefer the synonym Orthosia stabilis(Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775). It is distributed throughout Europe and is also found in Turkey, Israel, Transcaucasia, Russia and eastern Siberia.

The mouse moth is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is a widespread species with a Holarctic distribution.

Apamea crenata, known as the clouded-bordered brindle, is a moth in the family Noctuidae. It is distributed throughout the Palearctic realm. In the North it crosses the Arctic Circle, in the Mediterranean it is found only in cool locations and mountains avoiding very hot areas. In the Alps, it rises to an altitude of about 2000 metres.

Orthosia miniosa, the blossom underwing, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775. It is found in Europe.

Orthosia cruda, the small Quaker, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in Europe, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Turkey, the Caucasus, Transcaucasia, Kazakhstan, Israel, Lebanon, Cyprus and Jordan.

Luperina testacea, the flounced rustic, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in Europe, Asia Minor and Armenia.

Hydraecia micacea, the rosy rustic, is a moth of the family Noctuoidea. It is found across the Palearctic realm from Ireland to Siberia. It reaches Japan and is introduced to eastern USA, Quebec and Ottawa.

Fissipunctia ypsillon, the dingy shears, is a species of moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in the Palearctic realm.

Mesapamea secalis, the common rustic, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is found in Europe, north-west Africa, Turkey and northern Iran.

Agrotis vestigialis, the archer's dart, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel in 1766. It is found in most of the Palearctic realm from Ireland east, through to Russia, Siberia, the Altai mountains and the Amur region, and is also present in the Mediterranean Basin. It is absent from the north of Finland and Norway.

Agrotis trux, the crescent dart, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1824. It has a circum-Mediterranean distribution and is found along the coasts of France, Ireland, England, southern Europe, Algeria, Syria, Iraq, Iran, southern Russia and the Arabian Peninsula. In Africa, it is found as far south as South Africa.

Orthosia opima, the northern drab, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1809. It is found from central and northern Europe east to central Asia. In the west and north it is found from France through Great Britain up to southern Fennoscandia, south from the Alps up to the Balkans.

Apamea oblonga, the crescent striped, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Adrian Hardy Haworth in 1809. It is found in northern and central Europe, east to southern Russia, Asia Minor, Armenia, Turkestan, Turkey, Iran, southern Siberia, northern Pakistan, Mongolia, China, Sakhalin and Japan

Apamea anceps, the large nutmeg, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775.

Lithophane lamda, the nonconformist, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found throughout Europe, except in southern Europe. It is also absent from Iceland and Ireland.

Orthosia gracilis, the powdered Quaker, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in all of Europe except the extreme north and south, then east across the Palearctic to Northern Asia and Central Asia. O. g. pallidior is described from Xinjiang in China.

Mniotype adusta, the dark brocade, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It was described by Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper in 1790. It is found throughout much of the Palearctic from Europe to Japan, China and Mongolia. It is also found in North America. The habitat consists of heathland, chalky downland, fenland, moorland and upland areas.

Luperina dumerilii, or Dumeril's rustic, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Philogène Auguste Joseph Duponchel in 1826. It is found in the Mediterranean region and warmer areas of central and south-eastern Europe. Strays have been recorded from southern England. It is also present in Turkey and Jordan.

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
↑ 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.
↑ "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".

External links

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[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] 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.

[3] "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".

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