Mythimna (Mythimna) turca

• Subfamily: Hadeninae, Leucaniini
• Wingspan: 37-45 mm
• Flight period: Jun - Jul
• Spread: Common
• Host plants: Poaceae

Information

The Turkish Mythimna also called Double Line is a moth of the Noctuidae family, subfamily Hadeninae, with wingspan of 37-45 mm.
In Europe it is very widespread in fact it is absent from a few states such as Portugal, Ireland, Norway and obviously Iceland. Its range extends through northern Asia and central Asia to northern China, Korea and Japan.
In Italy it is present in the north and in the center, it would seem absent in the south. It is absent from Sicily while its presence in Sardinia is doubtful. *

The wings of the Turkish Mythimna are pale ocher / reddish in the front, mottled with reddish hues, and very finely dusted with small black dots. It has two lines both internal and external of brown / black color. The stigma, shaped like a kidney, is clearly visible, forming a clear stripe and having a lighter lower end, followed by a slight dark shade.

The hind wings are reddish, yellowish in the basal region with veins and areas of shades of brown.
Head, thorax and abdomen are in the background color of the front wings and covered by a thick down.

The Turkish Mythimna flies in a single generation from late May to August depending on location. Attends mature woodland environments, mesophilic forests and wetlands in general. It overwinters at the caterpillar stage. ***

The eggs are white, spherical, and are laid in clusters. **
The caterpillar is yellowish gray, mottled in dark, especially in the front part. It has a brown head and dorsal and subdorsal lines pale ocher in color with a dorsal series of dark streaks. **
The chrysalis is squat brown in color with your pointed appendages on the cremaster. **

The larvae feed on Poaceae including including Dactylus glomerata, Poa nemoralis, Molinia arundinacea and Brachypodium sylvaticum has also been reported on Cyperaceae such as Carex and on Juncacae coma la Luzula.


* Lepidoptera mundi https://lepidoptera.eu/ - Fauna Europea https://fauna-eu.org/
** Bestimmungshilfe für die in Europa nachgewiesenen Schmetterlingsarten - http://lepiforum.de/
*** Roland Robineau, Guide de papillons nocturne de France, Delachaux et Niestlé, 2011 p.144