Six-striped Rustic

Taxobox
name = Six-striped Rustic
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Lepidoptera
familia = Noctuidae
genus = "Xestia"
species = "X. sexstrigata"
binomial = "Xestia sexstrigata"
binomial_authority = Haworth, 1809The Six-striped Rustic ("Xestia sexstrigata") is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is distributed throughout Europe apart from the far south east.

This is a fairly small species with a wingspan of 36-38 mm. It has pale brown forewings marked with six dark fascia although some of these can be indistinct. The hindwings are pale buff, darker towards the margin. The moth flies at night in July and August ref|flight_season and is attracted to light and sugar, as well as the flowers of ragwort.

The larva feeds on various herbaceous plants including dock, plantain and various grasses. The species overwinters as a larva.

#Note|flight_season"The flight season refers to the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range."

External links

* [http://www.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/noctuoidea/noctuidae/noctuinae/xestia/index.html#sexstrigata Six-striped Rustic at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera pages]

References

*Chinery, Michael "Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe" 1986 (Reprinted 1991)
*Skinner, Bernard "Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles" 1984