345 Noctua comes (Lesser Yellow Underwing)

NOCTUIDAE | Noctuinae

73.345 Noctua comes (Lesser Yellow Underwing)

fw: 16-21mm (Waring & Townsend), ws: 38-48mm (MBGBI9); Jun-Oct; various herbaceous plants; common throughout GB.

Noctua comes (Lesser Yellow Underwing) §2

ID: Ground colour ranges from pale brown through grey-brown and reddish brown to blackish; intensity of cross-lines and markings very variable; basal, antemedian, postmedian and subterminal lines usually discernible and may be prominent (eg in form sagittifer from Scilly and Lundy Is.), subterminal line usually expanded towards costa; oval and kidney marks discernible and may be prominent with dark centre and white edging; hindwing bright yellow with a narrow black subterminal fascia and a central black crescent. Antenna shortly ciliate in both sexes. N.pronuba (Large Yellow Underwing) is larger (fw 21-26mm), has a short black dash on the costa near the apex and lacks the hindwing crescent; N.orbona (Lunar Yellow Underwing) also shows the black costal dash but is otherwise very similar to N.comes.

Variation
Dissection
Male genitalia
Female genitalia
Larva

Form comes
Form sagittifer

§1 Westcliff-on-sea, Essex; 10/07/2007
§2 Newborough Forest, Anglesey; 28/07/2007
§3 Eskdale, Cumbria; 18/08/2007; fw 20.4mm
§4 Eskdale, Cumbria; 19/08/2007
§5 Eskdale, Cumbria; 21/08/2007
§6 St Marys, isles of Scilly; 14/10/2007
§7 Westcliff-on-sea, Essex; 01/07/2008; fw 21.2mm
§8 Foulness, Essex; 05/07/2008; fw 19.9mm
§9 Foulness, Essex; 05/07/2008; fw 21.2mm
§10 Foulness, Essex; 19/07/2008; fw 21.2mm
§11 Rannoch, Perthshire; 26/08/2008; fw 19.3mm
§12 Rannoch, Perthshire; 27/08/2008
§13 Foulness, Essex; 04/07/2009; fw 22.0mm
§14 St Marys, Isles of Scilly; 04/09/2009
§15 Foulness, Essex; 10/07/2010; fw 20.0mm
§16 Fersit, Inverness-shire; 27/07/2013
§17 Fersit, Inverness-shire; 27/07/2013; male; fw 17.8mm
§18 St Marys, Isles of Scilly; 30/09/2013; female; fw 19.4mm
§19 Foulness, Essex; 19/07/2014; female
§20 Foulness, Essex; 26/07/2014
All images © Chris Lewis

§21 Portland Bill, Dorset; 23/06/2015
§22 Westcliff-on-sea, Essex; 20/08/2015
§23 St Marys, Isles of Scilly; 10/10/2015
§24 Arne, Dorset; 06/07/2016; female; fw 18.7mm
§25 Dalmunzie, Perthshire; 30/08/2016; female; fw 18.7mm
§26 St Marys, Isles of Scilly; 08/10/2016
§27 St Marys, Isles of Scilly; 08/10/2016
§28 Lizard, Cornwall; 03/10/2019
§29 St Marys, Isles of Scilly; 10/10/2020; female
§30 St Marys, Isles of Scilly; 30/09/2020; male; fw 17.9mm
§31 Loch Fyne, Argyll; 29/07/2022
§32 Loch Fyne, Argyll; 30/07/2022
§33 Loch Fyne, Argyll; 30/07/2022
§34 Loch Fyne, Argyll; 01/08/2022
§35 Camas-luinie, West Ross & Cromarty; 22/07/2023; male
§36 Camas-luinie, West Ross & Cromarty; 27/07/2023
§37 Inveruglas, Inverness-shire; 31/07/2023
§38 St Mary's, Isles of Scilly; 25/09/2023
Larva: Westcliff-on-sea, Essex; 03/05/2020