''Noctua fimbriata'', the broad-bordered yellow underwing, is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

of the family

Noctuidae The Noctuidae, commonly known as owlet moths, cutworms or armyworms, are a family of moths. They are considered the most controversial family in the superfamily Noctuoidea because many of the clades are constantly changing, along with the other f ...

. It is found in Europe,

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

, the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

and Novosibirsk Oblast. The border of its southern range is unclear because of the similar looking species '' Noctua tirrenica''. Noctua fimbriata2

Technical description and variation

The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

is 45–55 mm. The length of the forewings is 22–27 mm. Forewing ranging from pale ochreous and rufous in the female to red-brown and olive-green in the male; ochreous males are rare; markings slight in the female, strong in the male;inner line dark; outer and submarginal pale; upper stigmata large, pale-edged, often touching; a dark costal blotch before submarginal line: hindwing and fringe orange, with a very broad black border; the pale rufous forms are known as ab. ''rufa'' Tutt, and the deep red-brown forms as ab. ''brunnea'' Tutt; the dark olive-green males are ''solani'' F., while the paler more ochreous green specimens (? males) are ab. ''virescens'' Tutt; — a rare and handsome form of the males called by Tutt ab. ''brunnea-virescens'' has the deep red-brown and olive-green tints combine. forewing blackish = ''obscura'' Lenz.].

Biology

The moth flies in one generation from late June to September. Larva reddish ochreous, paler at the sides and spotted with brown; dorsal line paler; a dark pale-edged bar across the 12th segment; spiracles pale on dark spots. The larvae feed on ''

Rumex The docks and sorrels, genus ''Rumex'', are a genus of about 200 species of annual, biennial, and perennial herbs in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae. Members of this genus are very common perennial herbs with a native almost worldwide distribu ...

'', nettle and low growing woody plants on occasion.

References

External links

Lepiforum''Noctua fimbriata''
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms''
Fauna EuropaeaVlindernet waarneming.nl Broad-bordered yellow underwing
at UKMoths Noctua (moth) Moths described in 1759 Moths of Africa Moths of Asia Moths of Europe Taxa named by Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber {{Noctuinae-stub