Buff arches

Buff arches
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Drepanidae
Genus:	Habrosyne
Species:	H. pyritoides
Binomial name
Habrosyne pyritoides (Hufnagel, 1766)
Synonyms
Phalaena (Noctua) pyritoides Hufnagel, 1766 Phalaena (Noctua) derasa Linnaeus, 1767 Gonophora derasoides Butler, 1878 Habrosyne pyritoides ochracea Werny, 1966

The buff arches (Habrosyne pyritoides) is a moth of the family Drepanidae. It is found throughout Europe and is well distributed in the British Isles except the far north of England and all of Scotland.

This is a distinctive and attractive species, its grey-brown forewings marked with bold buff-orange “arches." The hindwings are grey with white margins. The wingspan is 40–45 mm. It flies from June to August and is attracted to light and sugar.

The larva is orange-brown with a prominent white spot on each side of the head and feeds on bramble, hawthorn and hazel. The species overwinters as a pupa.

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

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  Both sides

Subspecies

• Habrosyne pyritoides pyritoides (Europe, Northern Iran)
• Habrosyne pyritoides derasoides (Butler, 1878) (south-eastern Russia, Korean Peninsula, Japan, China: Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Beijing, Hebei)

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

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