73.314 : 2082 : 10,275
Noctuidae : Noctuinae

Garden Dart

EUXOA (Euxoa) nigricans (Linnaeus, 1761)
Picture
Kind permission - © Tim Norriss
Life Cycle Guide
Picture
Description
Wingspan: 32 - 40mm
Worldwide Distribution: Europe - excluding (Azores,Balearic Is.,Canary Is.,Crete,Cyprus,Madeira & Malta.) - North Africa : Turkey
UK Distribution: Great Britain and Ireland - Common throughout most : Lowland Scotland - not Orkney or Shetland : Isle of Man - rare or local : Channel Isles - widespread and occasional
UK Conservation Status -
  • Common = > 300 10km squares
European Conservation Status -
  • Least Concern
Original Species Name -
  • Phalaena (Noctua) nigricans (Linnaeus, 1761)
Type Species -
  • Noctua decora ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775)
Type Locality -
  • Sweden
Flight Period: July - mid September
Habitat: Gardens : Downlands : Farmland : Allotments : Marshes : Rough open Ground : Woodland Rides
Similar Species -
  • White-line Dart - Euxoa tritici - (Linnaeus, 1761)
  • Square-spot Rustic - Xestia xanthographa -  ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775)
Larva: The 44mm final instar larva is ochreous to light brown with pale grey dorsal line that is bordered with smudges of darker grey which are indistinct laterally. Head is light brown with darker markings.
Pupa: Pupates in cocoon below soil
Overwinters as: Ovum
Observations: Very similar in shape and size to White-line Dart with plainer markings and forewing background either brown or black but never grey, as well as excluding the pale streak along the costa and the arrowheads near the termen.
Southern Britain species tend to be paler.
This moth tends to narrower wings than the Square-spot Rustic and claviform or "club-like" reniform stigmata whilst the similar species has pale stigmas.
Moth is attracted to flowers,sugar and is seen occasionally at the light trap.
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 - EUXOA:

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Literary Ref:

Type Locality:
Animalia
Eumetozoa
Arthropoda
Hexapoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Noctuoidea
Noctuidae
Noctuinae
Noctuini
EUOXA Hübner 1821
Euxoa Hübner 1821
Euxoa (Euxoa) nigricans (Linnaeus, 1761)
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Noctua decora ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775)
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PHALAENA (Noctua) nigricans (Linnaeus, 1761)
= Noctua fumosa Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775
= Phalaena (Noctua) rubricans Esper, 1788
= Noctua dubia Haworth, 1809
= Noctua vilis Hübner, [1813]
= Noctua fuliginea Hübner, [1813]
= Noctua carbonea Hübner, [1823]
= Noctua ursina Godart, [1824]
= Agrotis rustica Eversmann, 1842
= Agrotis oppidicola Krulikovsky, 1907
= Euxoa (Euxoa) nigricans
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Fauna Suecica (Edn 2 enlarged) : Title Page : p.322 - n.1220
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Sweden