This is a quite variable species with forewings ranging from pale to dark brown but always recognizable by the distinctively shaped dark stigmata which give it its common name. The wingspan is 35–44 mm. The hindwings are whitish (compared with other common Agrotis species, the hindwings of this species are usually paler than in heart and club but darker than in turnip moth). This species usually has a dark area at the front of the thorax, visible as a horizontal bar when viewing the moth head on. The differences are not consistent however; they are highly variable in both colour and markings, and identification of atypical or worn examples may prove impossible without examination of genitalia. See Townsend et al.[1]
This moth flies at night from May to July[1] and is attracted to light, sometimes in large numbers. It also frequently visits nectar-rich flowers such as Buddleia, ragwort and red valerian.
Larva
The larva The caterpillars are coloured grey-brown, paler ventrally and have a pale dorsal line and clearly recognizable black point warts.
The pupa is bright red. On the cremaster sit two short curved thorns.Larvae feed on a variety of plants, both wild and cultivated (see list below). This is one of the notorious cutworms and often severs or fatally damages plants at the base. The species overwinters as a full-grown larva in a chamber in the soil before pupating in the spring.
^The flight season refers to the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range.
^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, Gaden S.; Ackery, Phillip R.; Kitching, Ian J.; Beccaloni, George W.; Hernández, Luis M. (2010). "Search the database - introduction and help". HOSTS - A Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants. Natural History Museum, London.
Chinery, Michael (1986, reprinted 1991). Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe.
Savela, Markku. "Agrotis exclamationis (Linnaeus, 1758)". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
Lepiforum e.V.
December 02, 2023
heart, dart, heart, dart, redirects, here, architectural, motif, rais, cœur, heart, dart, agrotis, exclamationis, moth, family, noctuidae, species, first, described, carl, linnaeus, 1758, 10th, edition, systema, naturae, familiar, moth, many, considered, most,. heart and dart redirects here For the architectural motif see Rais de cœur The heart and dart Agrotis exclamationis is a moth of the family Noctuidae The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae A familiar moth to many it is considered one of the most common of the European region It occurs throughout the Palearctic realm from Ireland to Japan Heart and dartScientific classificationDomain EukaryotaKingdom AnimaliaPhylum ArthropodaClass InsectaOrder LepidopteraSuperfamily NoctuoideaFamily NoctuidaeGenus AgrotisSpecies A exclamationisBinomial nameAgrotis exclamationis Linnaeus 1758 SynonymsEuxoa exclaimationisEuxoa serena MountedMaleFemaleThis is a quite variable species with forewings ranging from pale to dark brown but always recognizable by the distinctively shaped dark stigmata which give it its common name The wingspan is 35 44 mm The hindwings are whitish compared with other common Agrotis species the hindwings of this species are usually paler than in heart and club but darker than in turnip moth This species usually has a dark area at the front of the thorax visible as a horizontal bar when viewing the moth head on The differences are not consistent however they are highly variable in both colour and markings and identification of atypical or worn examples may prove impossible without examination of genitalia See Townsend et al 1 This moth flies at night from May to July 1 and is attracted to light sometimes in large numbers It also frequently visits nectar rich flowers such as Buddleia ragwort and red valerian LarvaThe larva The caterpillars are coloured grey brown paler ventrally and have a pale dorsal line and clearly recognizable black point warts The pupa is bright red On the cremaster sit two short curved thorns Larvae feed on a variety of plants both wild and cultivated see list below This is one of the notorious cutworms and often severs or fatally damages plants at the base The species overwinters as a full grown larva in a chamber in the soil before pupating in the spring The flight season refers to the British Isles This may vary in other parts of the range Contents 1 Recorded host plants 2 Subspecies 3 References 4 External linksRecorded host plants editAnemone Artemisia Beta beet Brassica rapa turnip Fragaria strawberry Lactuca lettuce Plantago plantain Polygonum Quercus oak Rubus bramble Rumex docks sorrels Solanum potato Spinacia spinach Stellaria Zea maize 2 Subspecies editA e corsica Corsica A e exclamationis Europe A e informis Leech 1889 Japan nbsp Profile nbsp Front mark nbsp Color variationReferences edit 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 Gaden S Ackery Phillip R Kitching Ian J Beccaloni George W Hernandez Luis M 2010 Search the database introduction and help HOSTS A Database of the World s Lepidopteran Hostplants Natural History Museum London Chinery Michael 1986 reprinted 1991 Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe Skinner Bernard 1984 The Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Agrotis exclamationis Kimber Ian 73 317 BF2089 Heart amp Dart Agrotis exclamationis Linnaeus 1758 UKMoths Retrieved 30 June 2019 Savela Markku Agrotis exclamationis Linnaeus 1758 Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms Retrieved June 30 2019 Lepiforum e V Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Heart and dart amp oldid 1179026436, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
