The heart moth (Dicycla oo) is a species of moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found locally in Europe. It is also present in Turkey, Transcaucasia, the Caucasus, Israel, Iran and Iraq.

Dicycla oo
Male
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Superfamily: Noctuoidea
Family: Noctuidae
Genus: Dicycla
Species:
D. oo
Binomial name
Dicycla oo
(Linnaeus, 1758)[1]
Synonyms
  • Phalaena oo Linnaeus, 1758
  • Phalaena Bombyx oo Linnaeus, 1758
  • Noctua ferruginago Hübner, [1803]
  • Noctua renago Haworth, 1809

Technical description and variation

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D. oo L. (47 k). Forewing pale yellow, slightly dusted with ferruginous; veins and lines and outlines of stigmata ferruginous: fringe mottled with the same colour; hindwing yellowish white, washed with grey and darker before termen; in the form ferruginago Hbn. the base and the space between outer and submarginal lines are dark: in the ab. renago Haw. (47 k) there is a ferruginous fascia before inner line and between median shade and submarginal line, united along inner margin; sulphurea Stgr. is wholly sulphur yellow: the ferruginous scales are sometimes replaced by grey = ab. griseago Schultz. Larva black-brown, clotted with white; lines white; the dorsal irregularly blotched: the subdorsal slender; the spiracular broad. [2] The wingspan is 32–39 mm.

 
Figs 2, 2a larvae

Biology

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Adults are on wing from June to August.

The larvae feed on united leaves of Quercus species. Larvae can be found from May to June. The species overwinters as an egg.

References

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  1. ^ Fauna Europaea
  2. ^ Warren. W. in 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  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
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