Lepidoptera The Brown-line Bright-eye Moth – Leucania Conigera
Fig. 142.-The Brown-line Bright-eye.
The fore wings are yellowish brown. The ‘brown line’ is a transverse line parallel with the hind margin, and distant from it about one-fourth the length of the wing. Another dark brown line, describing a sharp bend, passes across the wing near the base. The ‘bright eye’ is a light spot just outside the centre of the wing, nearer the costa than the inner margin. This is another of those marks that occur very constantly in the wings of the Noctua. It lies beyond the orbicular spot, and is usually somewhat kidney-shaped, and is consequently named the reniform.
The caterpillar is yellowish or greyish, with a pale dorsal line edged with black. On each side of this is a broad black line, below which is a yellow line edged with black, then a whitish stripe, next a yellow line edged with black on the upper side, and lastly a broad brownish line, just above the spiracles, edged with black on both sides. It feeds on couch grass (Agropyron repens) and various other grasses, and is fully grown in May.
The moth flies in July and August, and is common throughout the United Kingdom.