NOCTUIDAE | Noctuinae

73.355 Xestia castanea (Neglected Rustic)

fw: 16-18mm (Waring & Townsend), ws: 36-42mm (MBGBI9); Aug-Sep; heather (Calluna vulgaris), bell heather, cross-leaved heath (Erica cinerea/tetralix); local in heath and moorland throughout GB
Picture
Xestia castanea (Neglected Rustic) §4 female
ID: Forewing ground colour ranges from light grey-brown to reddish-brown; hindwing grey with whitish to pinkish-grey cilia; markings generally indistinct apart from a black spot in the dorsal half of the kidney mark. The reddish form castanea predominates in northern Britain, the grey-brown form neglecta predominates in the south. 
X.xanthographa (Square-spot Rustic) can be similar but has the kidney mark pale-outlined and usually entirely paler than the ground colour.
  • Variation
  • Dissection
  • Male genitalia
  • Female genitalia
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§1 Rannoch, Perthshire; 25/08/2008; form castanea
§2 New Forest, Hampshire; 30/08/2013; male; fw 17.3mm; form neglecta
§3 New Forest, Hampshire; 30/08/2013; male; form neglecta
§4 New Forest, Hampshire; 01/09/2013; female; form neglecta
§5 New Forest, Hampshire; 30/08/2013; male; form neglecta
§6 Kintail, Ross-shire; 11/09/2014; female; fw 16.1mm; form castanea
§7 Dalmunzie, Perthshire; 01/09/2013; male; form castanea
§8 Muir of Dinnet, Aberdeenshire; 22/09/2019; female; fw 15.6mm; form castanea
§9 Cliburn Moss, Essex; 02/09/2022; female
All images © Chris Lewis
Page published 16/03/2017 (§1-7) | §8 added 18/12/2019 | §9 added 01/12/2022