''Xylena exsoleta'', the sword-grass, 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 ...

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 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 58–68 mm. The length of the forewings is 24–29 mm. Forewing long and narrow. Differs from

Xylena vetusta ''Xylena vetusta'', the red sword-grass, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1813. It is found in the Palearctic realm from northwestern Africa through Europe and Asia up to central Siberia. In ...

in being mainly dark or blackish grey, the ochreous ground showing only in a longitudinal streak above the median vein broadening along vein 5; orbicular stigma large and well-marked, with black linear centre and outline; lines marked by pairs of black spots on veins; submarginal line preceded by two wedgeshaped black marks which do not reach the reniform; hindwing dark fuscous. Co-extensive in range with ''vetusta''; the form occurring in Central Asia is differentiated by Staudinger as ab. ''impudica'', the ground colour being paler, more ashy grey, with less distinct markings; in ab. ''obscurata'' Spul. the whole forewing is suffused with brown; the opposite to this, in which all the black grey shading is absent and the whole forewing, except narrowly along costa, is pearly grey, may be called ab. ''pallescens'' ab. nov.

arren Arren may refer to: * Arren Bar-Even (1980–2020), Israeli biochemist and biologist * Arren, a major character in ''The Farthest Shore'' and ''The Other Wind'', fantasy novels by Ursula K. Le Guin * Arrën Arrën is a village and a former munic ...

in this the markings are as distinct as in the type form, and the hindwing is quite pale fuscous; there are 4 males of this form in the Tring Museum from Europe, one marked Crimmitschau and the other 3 without more precise locality.

Biology

The moth flies from September to July depending on the location. Larva green; dorsal and subdorsal lines broadly yellow; spiracular line red, pale-edged beneath, with the yellow spiracles above it; tubercles white with broad blackish rings. The larvae are widely polyphagous, feeding on various deciduous trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants, including ''

Epilobium ''Epilobium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Onagraceae, containing about 197 species. The genus has a worldwide distribution. It is most prevalent in the subarctic, temperate and subantarctic regions, whereas in the subtropics and ...

'', ''

Lilium ''Lilium'' ( ) is a genus of Herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large and often prominent flowers. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world ...

'', ''

Iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (given name), a feminine given name, and a list of peopl ...

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Rumex The docks and sorrels, genus ''Rumex'', are a genus of about 200 species of annual, biennial, and perennial herbs in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae. Members of this genus are very common perennial herbs with a native almost worldwide distri ...

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Euphorbia ''Euphorbia'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants, commonly called spurge, in the family (biology), family Euphorbiaceae. Euphorbias range from tiny annual plants to large and long-lived trees, with perhaps the tallest being ''Eu ...

'', ''

Ononis ''Ononis'' is a large genus of perennial herbs and shrubs from the legume family Fabaceae. The members of this genus are often called restharrows or wrestharrows as some species grow as weeds on arable lands whose tough stems would stop the har ...

'', ''

Allium cepa An onion (''Allium cepa'' , from Latin ), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classified ...

'', ''

Brassica oleracea ''Brassica oleracea'', also known as wild cabbage in its uncultivated form, is a plant of the family Brassicaceae. The species originated from feral populations of related plants in the Eastern Mediterranean, where it was most likely first cultiv ...

'' and ''

Delphinium ''Delphinium'' is a genus of about 300 species of annual and perennial flowering plants in the family (biology), family Ranunculaceae, native species, native throughout the Northern Hemisphere and also on the high mountains of tropical Africa. T ...

''. The caterpillars of sword-grass can reach a length of approximately 60 mm. They are green, with black blotches, white lateral lines and orange markings. Like many similar species, they make their metamorphosis underground.

Distribution

It is found from the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

and north-western

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

through Europe, the

Near East The Near East () is a transcontinental region around the Eastern Mediterranean encompassing the historical Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula. The term was invented in the 20th ...

and central

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

up to the Pacific and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Habitat

These moths prefer moorlands and woodlands.

Gallery

File: Britishentomologyvolume5Plate256.jpg, Illustration from

John Curtis John Ream Curtis (born May 10, 1960) is an American politician serving since 2025 as the junior United States senator from Utah. A member of the Republican Party, Curtis served from 2017 to 2025 as the U.S. representative for Utah's 3rd congre ...

's ''

British Entomology ''British Entomology'' is a classic work of entomology by John Curtis (entomologist), John Curtis, Linnean Society of London, FLS. It is subtitled ''Being Illustrations and Descriptions of the Genera of Insects found in Great Britain and Ireland: ...

'' Volume 5 File: Xylena exsoleta.jpg, Caterpillar

References

External links

Sword-grass at UKmothsFauna Europaea

Taxonomy
Lepiforum.deVlindernet.nl
Cuculliinae Moths described in 1758 Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Moths of the Middle East Moths of Iceland Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Cuculliinae-stub