Page 600 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

MOTH CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Noctuidae
DISTRIBUTION Western Europe, including Iberia and most of the British
Isles, and east through central and southern Europe to the
Balkans and Crimea
HABITAT Wide variety, including grasslands, heathlands, woodland
farmlands, and gardens
HOST PLANTS Various herbaceous plants, including dock (Rumex spp.),
Knot-grass (Polygonum aviculare), lettuce (Lactuca spp.),
and grasses (Poaceae)
NOTE Small, brown cutworm caterpillar, but not a pest species
CONSERVATION STATUS Not evaluated

ADULT WINGSPAN
1 ⁄ –1¼ in (30–32 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH
1 ⁄ –1 ⁄ in (30–33 mm)
AGROTIS PUTA
SHUTTLE-SHAPED DART
598
(HÜBNER, [1803])

Shuttle-shaped Dart caterpillars hatch from brownish, globular
eggs laid in batches on the food plant. They feed at night close to
the ground and hide by day, often slightly beneath the surface.
There are two or three generations, which may overlap so
that, depending on climate, caterpillars are found from May
throughout the summer and fall, usually overwintering fully
grown in the ground, where the pupa is formed in March or
April. The moths y from April to June, July to August, and,

in some places, in the fall, although in lesser numbers.

The Agrotis puta caterpillar is typical of larvae of this genus,
whose members are also known as cutworms because they eat
through the bases of stems, mostly near the ground, and through
roots. Some species, although not A. puta, are agricultural
pests in di erent parts of the world. Agrotis larvae tend to look

very similar to one another, and those of the closely related
A. catalaunensis are almost indistinguishable from the Shuttle-
shaped Dart, as are the adults. This has led to some uncertainty
over the exact distribution of A. puta.

Actual size The Shuttle-shaped Dart caterpillar is slightly
squat and a dirty, mottled brown color. Along
the back, there is a rather faint, thin, pale central
stripe and two pale, broad, wavy, di use stripes,
sometimes vaguely forming open V marks.
Dark, thinly scattered, short hairs arise from
small, black plates in pairs along the back.
The body is paler laterally and underneath,
with black spiracles.