Orthosia miniosa

{{short description|Species of moth}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Orthosia miniosa.jpg

| image2 = Orthosia miniosa larva.jpg

| taxon = Orthosia miniosa

| authority = (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775)

| synonyms =

}}

Orthosia miniosa, the blossom underwing, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775. It is found in Europe.

Technical description and variation

{{Entomology glossary hatnote}}

The wingspan is 31–36 mm. The length of the forewings is 15–17 mm. Forewing sandy rufous, black speckled, median area generally deeper rufous: lines browner, edged with pale, the outer dentate lunulate; stigmata with yellowish outlines and grey centres: submarginal line rufous and yellowish: hindwing white, rosy tinged along the termen; cellspot, outer line, and veins sometimes well-marked. Form rubricosa Esper is the form in which the red of the median area is most emphasised.

Form pallida Tutt is greyish ochreous, with hardly a vestige of rufous: in virgata Tutt, while the basal and marginal areas are grey, the median space is rufous.Seitz, A. Ed., 1914 Die Großschmetterlinge der Erde, Verlag Alfred Kernen, Stuttgart Band 3: Abt. 1, Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen eulenartigen Nachtfalter, 1914

Biology

Image:Orthosia miniosa, Blossom Underwing, Coed y Pennant, North Wales, May 2010 - Flickr - janetgraham84.jpg

The moth flies in one generation from the end of March to mid-May{{ref|flight season}}.

Larva pale or dark blue grey; dorsal and subdorsal lines yellow; the sides black with a yellow spiracular line, marked with a white spot on each segment; head whitish with coarse blackish mottling. The larvae feed on various trees and shrubs, mainly oak.{{cite web |last1=Robinson |first1=Gaden S. |last2=Ackery |first2=Phillip R. |last3=Kitching |first3=Ian J. |last4=Beccaloni |first4=George W. |last5=Hernández |first5=Luis M. |date=2010 |url=https://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/data/hostplants |title=Search the database - introduction and help |website=HOSTS - A Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants |publisher=Natural History Museum, London}}

Notes

  1. {{Note|flight season}}The flight season refers to Belgium and the Netherlands. This may vary in other parts of the range.

References

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