''Orthosia opima'', the northern drab, 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 ...

. The species was first described by

Jacob Hübner Jacob Hübner (20 June 1761 – 13 September 1826, in Augsburg) was a German entomologist. He was the author of ''Sammlung Europäischer Schmetterlinge'' (1796–1805), a founding work of entomology. Scientific career Hübner was the author of '' ...

in 1809. It is found from central and northern Europe east to central Asia. In the west and north it is found from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

through

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

up to southern

Fennoscandia __NOTOC__ Fennoscandia (Finnish language, Finnish, Swedish language, Swedish and no, Fennoskandia, nocat=1; russian: Фенноскандия, Fennoskandiya) or the Fennoscandian Peninsula is the geographical peninsula in Europe, which includes ...

, south from the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

up to the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

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 34–40 mm. Forewing dull lilac grey speckled with darker: inner and outer lines purplish brown, the median area either filled with brown or with a broad brown median shade; submarginal line broadly pale with dark line before it, nearly straight; upper stigmata large, outlined with pale: hindwing dull brownish grey. Distinguished from '' O. incerta'' by the straighter costa and more produced apex of forewing. In this insect the continental forms are darker than those found in Britain, of which the commonest is ab. ''grisea'' Tutt with pale ochreous-grey ground with the pale edges of stigmata strongly marked and broad submarginal line; — ''brunnea'' Tutt has the whole wing brownish, but the edges of stigmata and the submarginal line still pale; — but in ''unicolor'' Tutt the whole wing is brown.

Biology

Adults are on wing from March to May. Larva purplish brown above, yellowish green below; dorsal and subdorsal lines finely pale; spiracular line broad, dark brown above, becoming yellowish red below; spiracles pale, black ringed. The larvae feed on '' Salix caprea'', '' Berberis thunbergii'', '' Fagus'', ''

Quercus An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably '' ...

'', ''

Populus ''Populus'' is a genus of 25–30 species of deciduous flowering plants in the family Salicaceae, native to most of the Northern Hemisphere. English names variously applied to different species include poplar (), aspen, and cottonwood. The we ...

'', '' Prunus spinosa'' and '' Vaccinium''.

References

External links

* * Taxonomy
''Orthosia opima'' up ''Encyclopedia of Life''''Lepiforum e.V.''''Schmetterlinge-Deutschlands.de''
Orthosia Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Moths described in 1809 Taxa named by Jacob Hübner {{Orthosiini-stub