Noctuidae : Noctuinae
Archer's Dart
AGROTIS vestigialis (Hufnagel, 1766)
Archer's Dart
AGROTIS vestigialis (Hufnagel, 1766)
Kind Permission - © Maurice Pugh
Life Cycle Guide
Description
Wingspan: 30-40mm
Worldwide Distribution: Europe - excluding (Azores,Balearic Is.,Canary Is.,Crete,Croatia,Cyprus,Madeira,Malta,Sardinia,Sicily & Slovenia) : eastwards to Siberia : Altai : Amur : Turkestan : Kazakhstan
UK Distribution: Locally distributed around the coasts of Britain,Isle of Man & Ireland, also inland on heathland in Dorset,Hampshire-New Forest,Surrey,the Breckland of East Anglia,Lincolnshire,Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire.Other inland sites in Oxfordshire,Birmingham plateau & Speyside. Channel Isles - local & occasional
UK Conservation Status -
Habitat: Sand Dunes : Heathland : Breckland : Limestone Grassland occasionally
Similar Species -
Pupa: Pupates below soil for about six weeks.
Overwinters as: Larva
Observations: This moth is the most distinctive of the "Dart" species with bold marks and variegated markings on the forewing.Prominent features includes the orbicular spots and reniform stigmata with bullet shaped mark adjacent. There is a row of dark arrowheads in the area between the stigmata and the termen.A pair of "Shoulder-flaps" are much lighter than the remainder of the thorax.
The moth has geographical variation with very dark specimens with silvery grey markings associated with the heathland of Dorset,Hampshire and Surrey as seen below.Some coastal specimens are almost white.
The moth is attracted to both light and sugar.
Worldwide Distribution: Europe - excluding (Azores,Balearic Is.,Canary Is.,Crete,Croatia,Cyprus,Madeira,Malta,Sardinia,Sicily & Slovenia) : eastwards to Siberia : Altai : Amur : Turkestan : Kazakhstan
UK Distribution: Locally distributed around the coasts of Britain,Isle of Man & Ireland, also inland on heathland in Dorset,Hampshire-New Forest,Surrey,the Breckland of East Anglia,Lincolnshire,Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire.Other inland sites in Oxfordshire,Birmingham plateau & Speyside. Channel Isles - local & occasional
UK Conservation Status -
- Local = 101 - 300 10km squares
- Least Concern
- Noctua vestigialis (Hufnagel, 1766)
- Noctua segetum ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775)
- Germany - Berlin Region
Habitat: Sand Dunes : Heathland : Breckland : Limestone Grassland occasionally
Similar Species -
- None - very distinctive
Pupa: Pupates below soil for about six weeks.
Overwinters as: Larva
Observations: This moth is the most distinctive of the "Dart" species with bold marks and variegated markings on the forewing.Prominent features includes the orbicular spots and reniform stigmata with bullet shaped mark adjacent. There is a row of dark arrowheads in the area between the stigmata and the termen.A pair of "Shoulder-flaps" are much lighter than the remainder of the thorax.
The moth has geographical variation with very dark specimens with silvery grey markings associated with the heathland of Dorset,Hampshire and Surrey as seen below.Some coastal specimens are almost white.
The moth is attracted to both light and sugar.
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.
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.
- Asteraceae - Compositae - Aster-Daisy - Sunflower Family
- Artemesia campestris - Field Southerwood
- Lactuca sativa - Lettuce
- Senecio jacobaea - Common Ragwort
- Taraxacum officinale - Common Dandelion
- Boraginaceae - Borage - Forget-me-not Family
- Borago officinalis - Borage, Common Borage,Cool-tankard, Tailwort
- Echium vulgare - Viper's Bugloss
- Pentaglottis sempervirens - Evergreen Bugloss
- Caryophyllaceae - Pink and Carnation Family
- Honkenya peploides - Sea Sandwort, Seaside sandplant
- Stellaria media - Chickweed
- Ericaceae - Heather Family
- Calluna vulgaris - Common Heather - Ling
- Fabaceae - Leguminosea - The Pulse - Bean - Pea - Legume Family
- Medicago sativa - Alfalfa
- Melilotus officinalis - Yellow Sweet Clover - Yellow Melilot
- Trifolium repens - White Clover - Dutch Clover
- Pinaceae - Pine Family
- Pinus sylvestris - Scot's Pine
- Poaceae - Gramineae - True Grasses Family
- Ammophila arenaria - Marram Grass
- Avena sativa - Oats
- Zea mays - Sweetcorn
- Rubiaceae - Bedstraw Family
- Galium mullugo - Hedge Bedstraw
- Galium verum - Lady's Bedstraw
- Solanaceae - Bedstraw Family
- Nicotiana tabacum - Tobacco
- Violaceae - Violet - Pansy Family
- Viola tricolor - Heartease
- Viola X wittrockiana - Pansy, Heart's Ease, Ladies Delight, Stepmother's Flower, Pansy
Larval Food Plants
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Taxonomy
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Kingdom:
Subkingdom: Phylum: Subphylum: Class: Order: Superfamily: Family: Subfamily: Tribe: Genus: Accepted Species Name: Type Species-AGROTIS: Original Species Name: Species Names: Literary Ref: Type Locality: |
Animalia
Eumetozoa Arthropoda Hexapoda Insecta Lepidoptera Noctuoidea Noctuidae Noctuinae Noctuini AGROTIS Ochsenheimer, 1816 Agrotis vestigialis (Hufnagel, 1766) - NOCTUA segetum Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775 - NOCTUA vestigialis (Hufnagel, 1766) = Phalaena vestigialis Hufnagel, 1766 = Noctua valligera Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775 = Bombyx trigonalis Esper, 1786 = Phalaena clavis Donovan, 1801 = Bombyx sagittiferus Haworth, 1803 = Agrotis? signata Boisduval, [1847] - Berlin. Magazin 2 (4) : Title Page : p.422 - n.XL11 - Germany-Berlin Region |
