Agrotis ripae

Agrotis ripae, the sand dart, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1823. It is found in western Europe and North Africa and extends east across the Palearctic to steppe areas in Russia, Mongolia and Siberia.

Agrotis ripae
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Superfamily: Noctuoidea
Family: Noctuidae
Genus: Agrotis
Species:
A. ripae
Binomial name
Agrotis ripae
Hübner, 1823
Synonyms
  • Scotia ripae

Description

The wingspan is 32–42 mm. Forewing rufous brown or rufous grey, mixed with white; a costal streak and the veins whitish; stigmata outlined with brown, the reniform with the centre dark; marginal area often paler; hindwing in male white, in female with the veins and margin grey.

It is a seacoast species or survives in wastes once washed by the sea; occurring in Britain, France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Russia; in Mongolia and Siberia, and in Egypt. It is a remarkably variable species of which the chief forms are ab. nebulosa Stph. a pale grey form, with the costa, base, and outer margin fuscous; desertorum Bsd. from southern Russia, Siberia and Egypt is grey with the lines and stigmata dark and distinct. In brunnea Tutt the ground colour is deep reddish ochreous with lines and stigmata fuscous; — grisea Tutt is dark slaty grey with the markings obscured; a row of small whitish subterminal dots; — ab. desillii Pierret is a reddish-grey form, sometimes mixed with yellowish, with the markings well developed; — albicosta Tutt is like it, but with a white costal streak in addition: — lastly, there are two nearly white forms ab. weissenbornii Frr. , whitish with the stigmata outlined in black and ab. obotritica Schmidt, chalkwhite, with a few traces only of lines and stigmata.[1]

Biology

Adults are on wing from June to July depending on the location.

In Germany

The larvae feed on various sand-dune plants, including Salsola kali, Cakile maritima, and Atriplex.[2]

References
  1. Seitz, A. Ed., 1914 Die Großschmetterlinge der Erde, Verlag Alfred Kernen, Stuttgart Band 3: Abt. 1, Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen eulenartigen Nachtfalter, 1914
  2. "Robinson, G. S., P. R. Ackery, I. J. Kitching, G. W. Beccaloni & L. M. Hernández, 2010. HOSTS - A Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants. Natural History Museum, London".


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