73.261 : 2150 : 9993
Noctuidae : Hadeninae

Grey Arches

POLIA nebulosa (Hufnagel, 1766)
Picture
Kind permission - © Tim Norriss
Life Cycle Guide
Picture
Description
Wingspan: 46-58mm
Worldwide Distribution: Europe - excluding (Azores,Balearic Is.,Canary Is.,Corsica,Crete,Cyprus,Greece,Madeira,Malta & Sardinia) : eastern Asia : Japan
UK Distribution: southern England - common & widespread : Scotland - more local and in the west : Isle of Man - local : Ireland - widespread : Channel Isles - Jersey & Guernsey - rare, Alderney & Sark - locally frequent
UK Conservation Status -
  • Common = > 300 10km squares
European Conservation Status -
  • Least Concern
Original Species Name -
  • Phalaena nebulosa Hüfnagel, 1766
Type Species - Polia
  • Phalaena nebulosa Hüfnagel, 1766
Type Locality -
  • Berlin Region
Flight Period: end May - mid August - univoltine
Habitat: Broadleaved Woodland : Rural Gardens
Similar Species -
  • Silvery Arches - Polia hepatica - (Clerck, 1759)
Larva: The 50mm final instar larva body colour has various shades of brown or grey with a pale thin dorsal line within black diamond shaped blotches on each abdominal section and black oblique marks above the spiracular line.Head is mottled reddish brown with light brown.
Pupa: Pupates in a cocoon just below the soil
Overwinters as: Larva
Observations: The moth forewing is curved along the costa and the obicular spot and stigmata are large,light, and edged with black with another spot adjacent to the orbicular spot which is yellowish brown.Another mark which helps identify this species is a black dash inside the tornal area something the similar species has missing.The forewing ranges in colour from light to dark grey or blackish with the lighter form P.n.pallida found mostly in western and northern England and Ireland.

Found sometimes during the day on tree trunks or posts
Photo Gallery
Larval Food Plants Worldwide
Note - Plants hyperlinked in red below take the visitor to the relevant plant page on"Plants for a Future" website where further information like photos,physical characteristics,habitats,edible uses,medicinal uses,cultivation,propagation,range,height etc. are clearly listed.
Plant Families - in bold red below takes the visitor to the relevant "Lepi-plants" page where other butterflies & moths using the plants below are listed.
Larval Food Plants
Taxonomy
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Type Species - POLIA:

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Subspecies:
Animalia
Eumetozoa
Arthropoda
Hexapoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Noctuoidea
Noctuidae
Hadeninae
Hadenini
POLIA Ochsenheimer 1816
Polia nebulosa (Hufnagel, 1766)
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Phalaena nebulosa Hüfnagel, 1766
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PHALAENA nebulosa Hüfnagel, 1766
= bimaculosa Esper, [1788]
= Phalaena (Noctua) bimaculosa Esper, 1788
= Phalaena (Noctua) thapsi Brahm, 1791
= Phalaena grandis Donovan, 1801
= Noctua plebeja Hübner, [1803]
= calabrica Warren, 1910
= Polia (Polia) nebulosa
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Berlin. Magazin. 3 (3) : Title Page :  p.418 - n.103
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Berlin Region
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P. n. askolda (Oberthür, 1880) - Siberia
P. n. lama (Staudinger, 1896) - Mongolia