Square-spot rustic

Square-spot rustic
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Superfamily:	Noctuoidea
Family:	Noctuidae
Genus:	Xestia
Species:	X. xanthographa
Binomial name
	Xestia xanthographa; Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775
Synonyms
	Xestia trumani(Smith, 1903);

Last updated January 13, 2023

The square-spot rustic (Xestia xanthographa) is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in Europe, North Africa and east across the Palearctic (excluding China) and in North America.

The species is quite variable in appearance, the forewings occurring in various shades of grey or brown, with melanic forms common in parts of its range. The best identifying feature is the large, pale, squarish stigma which gives the species its common name. The hindwings are pale to dark grey with a whitish fringe. The wingspan is 30–40 mm.

Technical description and variation

Forewing dull brown; the upper stigmata with pale annuli, the reniform sometimes wholly pale, the orbicular round; claviform absent; hindwing ochreous white, suffused with fuscous towards termen only in male, more broadly in female; in ab. budensis Frr. the ground colour is grey; in ab. elutior Alph. the forewings are more brightly coloured, being cinnamon brown or yellowish grey; and in ab. palaestinensis Kalchb. [Now full species Xestia palaestinensis (Kalchberg, 1897)], while the ground colour is paler, all the markings are more distinct. – ab. obscura Tutt and ab. nigra Tutt represent the reddish black and greyish black forms, with stigmata sometimes clear, at others almost obsolete, which occur in the North of Scotland, the hindwing also being blackish; rufescens Tutt and rufa Tutt are merely colour varieties.^[1]

Biology

This moth flies at night from July to September and is attracted to light, making it susceptible to light traps, and sugar. It also visits flowers such as heather, marram grass and ragwort. It is found in woodland edges, waste ground and suburban habitats with a distribution that covers most of England.

Larva greenish ochreous, with pale dorsal and subdorsal lines edged with dark; between them a row of oblique marks. The larva feeds on a variety of plants such as bedstraw, oak and willow, as well as various grasses.^[2] The species overwinters as a larva, remaining active and feeding throughout.

^ The flight season refers to the British Isles. 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.

The autumnal rustic is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper in 1788. It was previously placed in the genus Paradiarsia. It is found in northern and western Europe and North Africa.

The ingrailed clay is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775. It is distributed through most of Europe and the Palearctic.

The double square-spot is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is distributed through most of Europe except Portugal, the Mediterranean islands and northernmost Fennoscandia. In the East, the species ranges East across the Palearctic to Siberia and in the South-East to the Black Sea and in Iran. It rises to a height of about 2000 metres in the Alps.

The six-striped rustic is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is distributed throughout Europe apart from the far south east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common Quaker</span> Species of moth

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 Hebrew character is a moth in the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is found throughout Europe.

The lunar underwing is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Adrian Hardy Haworth in 1809. It has a scattered distribution in western Europe including Spain, Scandinavia and Algeria.

Apamea monoglypha, the dark arches, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel in 1766. It is a common, sometimes abundant, European species. It is found in most of Europe except northernmost Fennoscandia and the southern parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Greece. The species is also found in Anatolia, Turkestan, Western Asia and Central Asia, Siberia and Mongolia. In the Alps it is found up to heights of 2,500 meters. The smaller subspecies sardoa is found on Sardinia and Corsica.

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.

Apamea sordens, the rustic shoulder-knot or bordered apamea, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel in 1766. It is distributed throughout Europe, east across the Palearctic to Central Asia and to China and Japan. It also occurs in North America.

<i>Conistra erythrocephala</i> Species of moth

Conistra erythrocephala, the red-headed chestnut, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is distributedin central and southern Europe and is recorded from Asia Minor, (Amasia).

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.

Tiliacea citrago, the orange sallow, is a species of moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in Europe as far east as the Caucasus Mountains and the Urals.

Xestia baja, the dotted clay, is a species of moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in Europe, Turkey, northern Iran, Transcaucasia, the Caucasus, central Asia, Siberia, Mongolia, Tibet, China, Korea and Japan.

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 cinerea, the light feathered rustic, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775. It is found in southern and central Europe, northern Turkey, the Caucasus, western Turkmenia and Central Asia.

Xestia castanea, the grey rustic or neglected, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found from central Europe to Morocco, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan and Syria.

Xestia alpicola, the northern dart, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found from northern Europe across the Palearctic to central Siberia and in the Alps.

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, 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".

Chinery, Michael Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe 1986 (Reprinted 1991)
Skinner, Bernard Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles 1984

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] "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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