| | Insects of Britain and Ireland: the genera of Lepidoptera-Noctuidae |
Chrysaspidia Hübner
Adults. Head rough. Eyes glabrous; ciliated. Antennae of males shortly ciliate. Tongue well developed. Labial palps medium to long; ascending.
Wingspan 34–43 mm. Head and thorax reddish brown, the thorax greyer. Forewings brown, silvery-white and golden; yellow and orange, or brown; complexly patterned; the patterning well marked (with transverse lines, streaks and spots, and an enlarged version of the median shiny white ornamentation characteristic of Plusiidae); exhibiting metallic-enamelled effects; reniform undefined; orbicular undefined; claviform undefined. Hindwings fuscous; plain to terminally darkened; with a clear discal mark to without a clear discal mark; without transverse lines; exhibiting vein 5. Vein 5 of the hindwings strong; arising nearer to vein 4 than to vein 6; convergent on vein 4 near their bases. Thorax crested. Middle tibiae without spines. Posterior tibiae with spines; rough-scaled. Abdomen crested.
Living adults found in August.
Larvae, pupae. Ventral prolegs 4. Larvae posteriorly rounded; feeding on Sparganium, Iris, Gramineae and Cyperaceae; pupating on vegetative parts of the foodplant (the cocoon placed under a leaf).
British representation. 2 species; South-east England, Central-southern England, South-west England, English Midlands, Northern England, Southern Scotland, Northern Scotland, Wales, and Ireland (marshy places, local); festucae (Gold Spot), putnami gracilis (Lempke’s Gold Spot).
Plusiinae.
Illustrations. • Plusia festucae (Gold Spot), with other genera of Plusiinae: Newman. 1, Abrostola trigemina (Dark Spectacle); 2, Abrostola triplasia (The Spectacle, or Light Spectacle); 3, Trichoplusia ni (Ni Moth); 4, Diachrysia chrysitis (Burnished Brass); 5, Diachrysia orichalcea (Scarce Burnished Brass); 6, PLUSIA festucae (Gold Spot); 7, Autographa gamma (Silver Y); 8, Autographa jota (Plain Golden Y); 9, Autographa pulchrina (Beautiful Golden Y); 10, Autographa bractea (Gold Spangle); 11, Syngrapha interrogationis (Scarce Silver Y). From Newman, 1869. • Plusia festucae (Gold Spot), with other Plusiinae: photos. Figs. 1–2, Autographa gamma (Silver Y); 3–4, Autographa pulchrina (Beautiful Golden Y); 5–6, Autographa jota (Plain Golden Y); 7–8, Polychrysia moneta (Golden Plusia); 9–10, Diachrysia chrysitis (Burnished Brass); 11–12, Plusia festucae (Gold Spot).
1–2, Cheddleton near Leek, Staffs., Sept. 1952; 3–6 and 9–12, Cheddleton, July 1952. 7–8, Leek, July 1951. From Watson’s collection. • P. festucae (Gold Spot), with Cuculliinae and other Plusiinae: Kirby. CUCULLIINAE. 1, Cucullia verbasci (Mullein Shark); 2, Cucullia asteris (Starwort Shark); 3 and 5, Cucullia umbratica (Shark); 4, Cucullia lactucae (Lettuce Shark); 5, Cucullia umbratica (Shark); 6, Cucullia chamomillae (Chamomile Shark); 7, Cucullia artemisiae (Scarce Wormwood Shark); 8, Cucullia absinthii (Wormwood Shark); 9, Cucullia argentea (Green Silver-spangle); 10, Eutelia adulatrix; 11, Allophyes oxyacanthae ab. capucina (Green-brindled Crescent, var.); 12, Eucarta amethystina . PLUSIINAE. 13, Abrostola trigemina (Dark Spectacle); 14, Abrostola triplasia (Spectacle); 15, Lamprotes c-aureum; 16, Polychrysia moneta (Golden Plusia); 17, Euchalia consona; 18, Euchalcia modestoides; 19, Diachrysia chrysitis (Burnished Brass); 20, Autographa bractea (Gold Spangle); 21, Plusia festucae (Gold Spot); 22, Autographa jota (Plain Golden Y); 23, Autographa gamma (Silver Y); 24, Syngrapha interrogationis (Scarce Silver Y); 25, Syngrapha ain; 26, Syngrapha hochenwarthi. From Kirby 41. • Larvae and pupae of P. festucae and Autographa gamma: Duponchel and Guénée (1849). Noctuidae. 1, Autographa gamma (Silver Y). 2, Plusia festucae (Gold Spot). Duponchel and Guénée, 1849.
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2003 onwards. Insects of Britain and Ireland: the genera of Lepidoptera-Noctuidae. Version: 14th February 2021. delta-intkey.com’.
