''Xanthia togata'', the pink-barred sallow, is a species of

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 a

Holarctic The Holarctic realm is a biogeographic realm that comprises the majority of habitats found throughout the continents in the Northern Hemisphere. It corresponds to the floristic Boreal Kingdom. It includes both the Nearctic zoogeographical region ...

species, and is found throughout Europe and east through the

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

, and

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

up to the

Ussuri The Ussuri or Wusuli (russian: Уссури; ) is a river that runs through Khabarovsk and Primorsky Krais, Russia and the southeast region of Northeast China. It rises in the Sikhote-Alin mountain range, flowing north and forming part of the Si ...

. The distribution area includes the United States and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It was first described by the German

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper (2 June 1742 – 27 July 1810) was a German zoologist and naturalist. Born in Wunsiedel in Bavaria, he was professor of zoology at Erlangen university. Life and work Eugen and his brother Friedrich were intro ...

in 1788 from the

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wiktionary:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to a ...

in Germany

Life-cycle

Imago

Forewing deep yellow, the markings purplish brown; a blotch on costa beyond basal line; inner line wavy, interrupted; median shade curved, interrupted; outer line double, lunulate dentate, the space including median and outer lines shaded with purplish; orbicular stigma yellow, marked only by one or two reddish points; reniform yellow with its upper part slightly and its lower completely marked with purplish; the interval between the stigmata a purplish blotch; submarginal line indicated only by purplish spots; fringe yellow chequered with purplish; hindwing yellowish white, more yellow along termen, often showing a dark grey outer line; ''ochreago'' Bkh.

ype Peace River Airport is a municipally owned airport located west of the Town of Peace River, Alberta, Canada. The airport has one runway, which is , and a terminal building, which is . Northern Air is based at the airport and provides scheduled ...

differs only in having a red central band instead of the purplish brown one, —in ''togata'' Esp.

the median and double outer lines remain clear without any dark suffusion. 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 27–30 mm. and the length of the forewings is 13–16 mm. The ground colour of the forewings is deep yellow. There is a purple, variable in width median fascia extending from the costa. Antemedian and post median lines are reduced to purple dots. The irregular subterminal line is also reduced to a series of small dark dots. The hindwings are pale yellowish white, darker in the outer field. Very similar to ''

Xanthia icteritia ''Xanthia icteritia'', the sallow, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in the Palearctic realm (Europe except for the furthest south, and east to Central Asia, Korea, and Japan). The wingspan is 27–35 mm. The moth is similar to ...

'' but the median fascia is complete and ''togata'' is distinguished from the ''icteritia'' by the purple pigmentation of the head and shoulders. The moth flies from August to October depending on the location.

Ova

The pale-brown eggs are a flattened sphere, with relatively few ribs which are more prominent above the equator. They are laid in small rows and inserted behind the buds of

sallow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...

s (''Salix'' species) or poplar (''Populus'' species). The moth overwinters as an egg.

Larva

Larva brownish grey, dotted with red and yellow; dorsal line pale, with darker edges, but obscure; spiracular line broadly pale. They feed at first in the catkins, which are usually the first to fall. The later

instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'', "form", "likeness") is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, between each moult (''ecdysis''), until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to grow or ass ...

s feeds on the leaves of

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

plants. Before pupating the larva aestivates for a few weeks. The larva is similar to the sallow (''X. icteritia'') and should be bred for confirmation.

References

External links

Pink barred sallow at UKmoths

Taxonomy
Lepiforum.de

Vlindernet.nl
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1303190 Cuculliinae Moths described in 1788 Moths of Asia Moths of Europe Moths of Japan Moths of North America Taxa named by Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper