Pyrrhia umbra (Hufnagel, 1766)

Matov, Alexej, Zahiri, Reza & Holloway, Jeremy D., 2008, The Heliothinae of Iran (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), Zootaxa 1763, pp. 1-37 : 14-15

Pyrrhia umbra (Hufnagel, 1766)

Pl. 2, fig. 11; male genitalia Pl. 5, fig. 29; female genitalia Pl. 9, fig. 45.

Phalaena umbra Hufnagel, 1766 , Berl. Mag. 3: 294, Taf. 51: 6 (TL.: Germany: Berlin).

Synonymy: Noctua rutilago [Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775, Noctua marginata Fabricius, 1775 , Phalaena (Noctua) conspicua Borkhausen, 1792 , Phalaena (Noctua) umbrago Esper , [1796], Noctua marginago Haworth, 1809 , Heliothis cilisca Guenee, 1852 , Hydroecia tibetana Moore, 1878 , Chariclea vexilliger Christoph, 1893 .

References: Christoph 1877 ( Chariclea umbra ); Hampson 1910; Hacker 1990; Ebert & Hacker 2002 ( Pyrrhia umbra ).

Distribution: Transpalaearctic. Europe, Caucasus, Transcaucasia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, south Siberia, Far East, China (including Tibet), north India, Nepal, Australia (introduced). – In Iran (Pl. 11, fig. 59) occurs in provinces West Azerbaijan, Guilan, Mazandaran, Golestan and Tehran.

Bionomics: Bivoltine. Moths flying from May to October. The species inhabits steppe habitats on lowmedium elevations from 0 to 1800 m. Larvae are polyphagous, feed on 33 species of herbaceous plants, shrubs and trees of 16 botanical families, prefer Fabaceae and Scrophulariaceae .

Material examined: 61 specimens from provinces West Azerbaijan, Guilan, Mazandaran, Golestan and Tehran, collected between 14.V to 29.X on elevations from 0 to 1800 m.