73.178 Leucochlaena oditis (Beautiful Gothic)
fw: 14-16mm (MBGBI10), fw: 14-16mm (Waring & Townsend); Aug-Oct; grasses (Poaceae); RDB on grassy cliffs and south-facing slopes by the sea from Scilly to Isle of Wight
ID: Antenna bipectinate in male, simple and sparsely setose in female; proboscis rudimentary; labial palps short, porrect; thorax with small anterior crest; abdomen without crests. Forewing colour and markings as follows: basal area light brown, subbasal line whitish* edged proximally and distally with black dots and 'continuous with' a white line, edged black proximally, across the posterior thorax; blackish subdorsal blotch between subbasal and antemedian lines; antemdian line whitish edged black proximally and distally and sharply angled proximally at both dorsal and costal ends; median fascia generally dark brown but ranges from purplish (in Cornwall) to grey (in Hampshire and IOW), crossed by white-marked veins and buff between the most dorsal white-marked vein and the dorsum; prominent pale gold or buff oval and kidney marks; postmedian line whitish edged black proximally and blackish distally, sinuate - looping around kidney mark and sharply angled and expanded at costa; postmedian fascia light brown with black interneural wedges pointing proximally from whitish smoothly curved postmedian line and crossed by black-lined veins; narrow terminal fascia varies from mid brown to pale buff; terminal line black, scalloped (is this actually on the termen?); cilia pale buff with variable indistinct smudgy chequering.
*MBGBI10 describes the crosslines as the double dark lines but I think it is easier to see them as the pale lines edged blackish
*MBGBI10 describes the crosslines as the double dark lines but I think it is easier to see them as the pale lines edged blackish
§1 Portland, Dorset; 09/09/2018; male; fw 14.2mm
§2 Portland, Dorset; 09/09/2018; male; fw 14.2mm
§3 Portland, Dorset; 09/09/2018; male
§4 Portland, Dorset; 30/09/2024; male
§5 Portland, Dorset; 30/09/2024; male
All images © Chris Lewis
§2 Portland, Dorset; 09/09/2018; male; fw 14.2mm
§3 Portland, Dorset; 09/09/2018; male
§4 Portland, Dorset; 30/09/2024; male
§5 Portland, Dorset; 30/09/2024; male
All images © Chris Lewis
Page published 11/09/2018 (§1-3) | Dissection images added 08/02/2019 | §4&5 added 13/11/2024