Large Yellow Underwing

Descrizione

The large yellow underwing (Noctua pronuba) is a moth, the type species for the family Noctuidae. It is an abundant species throughout the Palearctic realm, one of the most common and most familiar moths of the region. In some years the species is highly migratory with large numbers appearing suddenly in marginal parts of the range. It is present in Europe, North Africa, Canary Islands, Middle East, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, northwest India, Russia, Novosibirsk Oblast, Caucasus, Transcaucasia and Central Asia. It was introduced into North America at Nova Scotia. Since then it has increased its range considerably and has been recorded for Maine since 1985, and then spread throughout the northeast from Vermont and Massachusetts (1989) to New Hampshire (1990), New York, Maryland (1992), and Connecticut (1993). It was first recorded in Pennsylvania in 1998, North Carolina (1997) and west to Colorado (1999), Wyoming (2000), Washington (2000), California (2001), British Columbia (2002) and Alaska (2005). This is a quite large and heavy moth with a wingspan of 50–60 mm (2.0–2.4 in). The forewings are quite variable from light brown to almost black. The darker individuals often have a pale streak along the costa.