332 Diarsia brunnea (Purple Clay)

NOCTUIDAE | Noctuinae

73.332 Diarsia brunnea (Purple Clay)

fw: 16-20mm (Waring & Townsend), ws: 36-45mm (MBGBI9); Jun-Aug; various herbaceous and woody plants; common throughout GB.

Diarsia brunnea (Purple Clay) §1 male

ID: Forewing broad with a curved costa; ground colour ranges from pinkish-brown to dark purplish-brown; oval as ground colour, kidney mark usually conspicuous, paler than ground colour, but may be suffused with ground colour and more obscure; usually a conspicuous quadrate blackish mark between oval and kidney and similar, smaller, mark proximal to oval; dark postmedian fascia, best marked towards costa.
Similar to female D.dahlii (Barred Chestnut) which lacks the darker postmedian fascia, has a pale subterminal line (lacking in D.brunnea) and lacks any blackish mark between oval and kidney. D.mendica (Ingrailed Clay) has a straighter costa and usually has some orange tint to the forewing ground colour.

Variation
Dissection
Male genitalia
Female genitalia

§1 Cyffdy Farm, Gwynedd; 21/06/2010; male; fw 17.5mm
§2 Bridge of Awe, Argyll; 24/06/2011; male; fw 19.0mm
§3 Ardnamurchan; 07/07/2012; female
§4 Fersit, Inverness-shire; 27/07/2013; female; fw 17.5mm
§5 Buttermere, Cumbria; 22/06/2014; male; fw 16.2mm
§6 Romansleigh, Devon; 25/06/2016; to light
§7 Mull; 22/06/2018; male; fw 16.0mm
§8 Loch Fyne, Argyll; 01/08/2022; female; fw 16.2mm
§9 Bootle, Cumbria; 20/06/2023; male; fw 16.8mm
§10 Cliburn Moss, Cumbria; 16/06/2023
All images © Chris Lewis