Conistra erythrocephala

Conistra erythrocephala
Scientific classification
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 throughout Europe.^[1] and it is recorded from Asia Minor, (Amasia).

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).

Figs 6, 6a, 6b larvae after final moult

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 Quercus and Ulmus before descending to feed on herbaceous plants.

References[]

^ Red-headed Chestnut at UK moth
^ 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[]

This Cuculliinae article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

[1] Red-headed Chestnut at UK moth

[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.

[1]

[2]