Mythimna litoralis

Shore wainscot
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Superfamily: Noctuoidea
Family: Noctuidae
Genus: Mythimna
Species:
M. litoralis
Binomial name
Mythimna litoralis
(Curtis, 1827)

Mythimna litoralis, the shore wainscot, is a moth of the family Noctuidae.

Illustration from John Curtis's British Entomology Volume 5

A strictly coastal species, it is found in Europe and Morocco in areas close to the shore. The wingspan is 36–42 mm. It is an ochre-colored moth having a distinctive white streak bordered with dark fine lines along the length of the forewing.

Technical description and variation

The wingspan is 36–42 mm. Forewing smooth pale ochreous suffused with brown except along costa;median vein white, outlined with fuscous; the nervules towards termen whitish; the terminal interspaces with brown streaks; hindwing pure white. A coast species found in Britain, Denmark, N. Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Spain. See also Hacker et al.

Figs 1, 1a, 1b

Larva reddish yellow; dorsal line fine, pale with dark edges; subdorsal lines blackish; spiracles black on a pale lateral stripe; head and thoracic plate yellowish. The larvae are monophagous, feeding exclusively on marram grass (Ammophila arenaria) leaves, a plant that grows on dunes along the shoreline.

References

  1. ↑ Kimber, Ian. "73.299 BF2201 Shore Wainscot Mythimna litoralis (Curtis, 1827)". UKmoths. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
  2. ↑ Seitz, A. Ed., 1914 Die Großschmetterlinge der Erde, Verlag Alfred Kernen, Stuttgart Band 3: Abt. 1, Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen eulenartigen Nachtfalter, 1914
  3. ↑ Hermann Hacker, László Ronkay & Márton Hreblay: Noctuidae Europaeae vol. 4 Hadeninae I. Entomological Press, Sorø 2002, ISBN 87-89430-07-7
  4. ↑ "Robinson, G. S., P. R. Ackery, I. J. Kitching, G. W. Beccaloni & L. M. Hernández, 2010. HOSTS – A Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants. Natural History Museum, London".