Brixton beauty

Description

Acontia nitidula, the Brixton beauty, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1787. It is found in South Africa, Europe, China, Japan and throughout India and Sri Lanka. It has also been recorded from Great Britain, but this record is doubtful. The larvae feed on the leaves of Abelmoschus esculentus and cotton and are considered a minor pest. The occurrence of Acontia nitidula in the British Isles is unconfirmed and highly doubtful. It was included on the British checklist of Lepidoptera species on the basis of a single specimen taken by Mr Plastead, a notorious dealer in rarities, at Brixton in September 1829. It is thought to be deliberately imported and there is no evidence of breeding in the United Kingdom. Acontia is a genus of moths of the family Noctuidae. The genus was named by Ferdinand Ochsenheimer in 1816. Eusceptis, Pseudalypia and Spragueia are sometimes included in the present genus, but here they are tentatively treated as different pending further research. Many species of Tarache were also once placed here. Palpi long, porrect (extending forward) and met by a short sharp frontal tuft. Third joint prominent. Antennae simple. Thorax and abdomen smoothly scaled and tuftless. Forewings with non-creulate cilia. Veins 7, 8 and 9, 10 stalked. Larva possess four abdominal prolegs.