''Xanthia togata'', the pink-barred sallow, 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 ...

of the family

Noctuidae The Noctuidae, commonly known as owlet moths, cutworms or armyworms, are a family (biology), family of moths. Taxonomically, they are considered the most controversial family in the superfamily Noctuoidea because many of the clades are constantly ...

. 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 reg ...

species, and is found throughout Europe and east through the

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

, and

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

up to the Ussuri. The distribution area includes the United States and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. It was first described by the German entomologist Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper in 1788 from the

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

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. ypediffers only in having a red central band instead of the purplish brown one, —in ''togata'' Esp. ypethe 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 opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

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. It also resembles '' Xanthia aurago''.

Biology

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 sallows (''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, which occurs between each moult (''ecdysis'') until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to ...

s feeds on the leaves of herbaceous 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