246 Orthosia populeti (Lead-coloured Drab)

73.246 Orthosia (Monima) populeti (Lead-coloured Drab)

fw: 15-17mm (Waring & Townsend), ws: 34-40mm (MBGBI9); Mar-Apr; aspen, black poplar (Populus tremula/nigra); local in broadleaved woodland throughout GB.

Orthosia populeti (Lead-coloured Drab) §3 male

ID: Forewing ground colour varies from pale grey to blackish-grey; large pale-outlined oval and kidney marks; pale subterminal line often with blackish marks on its proximal margin; forewing apex rounded; male antenna bipectinate, female shortly so. O.incerta (Clouded Drab) may be grey, has a somewhat pointed forewing apex and a characteristic pattern of black marks long the proximal margin of the subterminal line; its male antenna is not pectinate to the naked eye (short pectinations, less than 2x diameter of antennal shaft, are visible with magnification). O.cerasi (Common Quaker) has a similar forewing shape and can be very similarly marked but is brownish and has a prominent, straight, pale subterminal line which lacks black marks on its proximal margin. O.opima (Northern Drab) can be grey but has a pointed forewing apex, a very straight costa (somewhat curved in O.populeti), lacks black marks on the proximal margin of the subterminal line and the male has simple antennae.

Variation
Dissection
Male genitalia
Female genitalia

§1 Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire; 21/03/2012; male; fw 15.2mm
§2 Strumpshaw Fen, Norfolk; 14/04/2012; male; fw 17.6mm
§3 Hockley Woods, Essex; 17/03/2014; male; fw 16.2mm
§4 Foulness, Essex; 07/04/2018; female; fw 14.9mm; to light
§5 Foulness, Essex; 07/04/2018; female; fw 15.4mm; to light
§6 Foulness, Essex; 07/04/2018; female; fw 14.1mm; to light
§7 Cliburn moss, Cumbria; 08/04/2026; male; fw 16.8mm
All images © Chris Lewis

Page published 01/08/2016 (§1-3) | §4-6 added 22/01/2019 | §7 added 20/04/2026