Agrochola helvola

Description

The Flounced Chestnut (Agrochola helvola) is a moth of the Noctuidae family. It is found in most of Europe, north to Scotland and Fennoscandia up to the Polar circle, south to Spain, Sicily –it is not found on Sardinia-, Greece further east to the Middle East, Armenia, Asia Minor, West Turkestan and central Asia up to central Siberia. The wingspan is 34–45 mm.Forewing dull reddish or bright reddish; inner, outer, and submarginal lines brownish,formed of lunules between the veins, those of the inner line more continuous; a distinct brownish angulated median shade; stigmata usually very indistinct, of the ground colour or slightly darker, with paler annuli;hindwing grey, with costal and terminal areas and the fringe generally ochreous or rufous; the basal area before inner line and the space between outer and submarginal lines darker, forming more or less prominent bands; the dull reddish examples with these bands well-developed are typical helvola; the bright red ones are rufina L.; — catenata Esp. is a form in which the space between the outer and submarginal lines is not filled up with darker, so that the dark lunules forming those lines are more conspicuous; the examples with a greenish grey or ochreous ground colour, with the bands also developed are ab. ochrea Tutt ; — those with a yellowish ground and purplish-brown bands are punica Bkh.; the lines and bands are often obscured and semiobsolete; these less-marked forms with dull reddish ground are unicolor; — with bright red ground rufa Tutt; — and with greenish ochreous ground extincta Spul.; sibirica Stgr. from Central Asia, is a form with pale yellow forewings; cinnamomea Fuchs has much grey suffusion, the area beyond outer line darker brown; specimens from Amasia, though reddish in a few cases, mostly females, are generally much paler than European, dull brownish or ochreous-grey, with indistinct or obsolete markings; in particular the hindwings are much whiter with the grey and rufous suffusion usually slighter and more restricted in area. The moth flies from September to October depending on the location. The larvae feed on the leaves of various plants. Recorded food plants include Salix, Quercus, Corylus, Prunus spinosa, Rubus fruticosus, Rubus idaeus and Vaccinium myrtillus.