Straw Underwing

Taxobox
name = Straw Underwing

---

image_width = 200px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Lepidoptera
familia = Noctuidae
genus = "Thalpophila"
species = "T. matura"
binomial = "Thalpophila matura"
binomial_authority = Hufnagel, 1766The Straw Underwing ("Thalpophila matura") is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is distributed throughout Europe.

This species has a wingspan of 38-46 mm. The forewings are dark brown, often variegated with paler and reddish patches and usually with prominent whitish postterminal fascia. The hindwings are very distinctive, pale straw-coloured with a broad blackish band at the margin. This moth flies at night in July and August ref|flight_season and is attracted to light, sugar and various nectar-rich flowers.

The larva, brown with dark markings on the back, feeds on various grasses such as "Dactylis". This species overwinters as a small larva.

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

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