Ashworth's rustic (''Xestia ashworthii'') is a species of

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

. Its colouring is blue/grey and it is mainly

nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...

Life cycle

There is one generation in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

from mid June to August. They are in their larval stage from August to late May of June the next year, feeding mainly by night, but sometimes basking by day in the spring. There are many larval foodplants, usually low growing plants, including

common rock-rose ''Helianthemum nummularium'' (known as common rock-rose) is a species of rock-rose (Cistaceae), native to most of Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is borde ...

wild thyme ''Thymus serpyllum'', known by the common names of Breckland thyme, Breckland wild thyme, wild thyme, creeping thyme, or elfin thyme, is a species of flowering plant in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It is a low, usually prostrate subshrub formin ...

sheep's sorrel ''Rumex acetosella'', commonly known as red sorrel, sheep's sorrel, field sorrel and sour weed, is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family Polygonaceae. Native to Eurasia including the British Isles, the plant and its subspecies are ...

harebell ''Campanula rotundifolia'', the common harebell, Scottish bluebell, or bluebell of Scotland, is a species of flowering plant in the bellflower family Campanulaceae. This herbaceous perennial is found throughout the temperate regions of the northe ...

salad burnet ''Sanguisorba minor'', the salad burnet, garden burnet, small burnet, burnet (also used for ''Sanguisorba'' generally), :wiktionary:pimprenelle, pimpernelle, Toper's plant, and burnet-bloodwort, is an edible perennial plant, perennial herbaceou ...

bell heather ''Erica cinerea'', the bell heather, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family (biology), family Ericaceae, native plant, native to western and central Europe. Description It is a low, spreading shrub growing to tall, with fine needle ...

goldenrod Goldenrod is a common name for many species of flowering plants in the sunflower family, Asteraceae, commonly in reference to the genus ''Solidago''. Several genera, such as ''Euthamia'', were formerly included in a broader concept of the genu ...

lady's bedstraw ''Galium verum'' (lady's bedstraw or yellow bedstraw) is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is widespread across most of Europe, North Africa, and temperate Asia from Palestine, Lebanon and Turkey to Japan and Kam ...

creeping willow ''Salix repens'', the creeping willow, is a small, shrubby species of willow in the family Salicaceae, growing up to 1.5metres in height. Found amongst sand dunes and heathlands, it is a polymorphism (biology), polymorphic species, with a wide ...

and

foxglove ''Digitalis'' ( or ) is a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous perennial plants, shrubs, and biennials, commonly called foxgloves. ''Digitalis'' is native to Europe, Western Asia, and northwestern Africa. The flowers are tubular in sha ...

. It pupates in a flimsy cocoon under moss, among rocks or just below ground.

Subspecies

*''Xestia ashworthii ashworthii'' has a wingspan of 35–40 mm (mountainous areas of Wales) *''Xestia ashworthii candelarum'' (Staudinger 1871) (central Europe from the Pyrenees to the Alps, east to Siberia and Tibet) *''Xestia ashworthii lactescens'' (Turati 1919) has a wingspan of 42–46 mm (central Italy) *''Xestia ashworthii jotunensis'' (Schoyen 1887) (Fennoscandia and the Baltic region)

References

External links

Biodiversity of Snowdonia National Park
Xestia Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Moths described in 1855 {{Xestia-stub