Noctua fimbriata
Noctua fimbriata, the broad-bordered yellow underwing, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described in 1759 by Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber.
Distribution
Noctua fimbriata can be found throughout Europe, including the UK, and in parts of Asia, where it ranges east to the Caucasus, Turkmenistan, and Western Siberia. Its type locality is in Germany.Technical description and variation
The wingspan is 45–55 mm. The length of the forewings is 22–27 mm. Forewing ranging from pale ochreous and rufous in the female to red-brown and olive-green in the male; ochreous males are rare; markings slight in the female, strong in the male;inner line dark; outer and submarginal pale; upper stigmata large, pale-edged, often touching; a dark costal blotch before submarginal line: hindwing and fringe orange, with a very broad black border; the pale rufous forms are known as ab. rufa Tutt, and the deep red-brown forms as ab. brunnea Tutt; the dark olive-green males are solani F., while the paler more ochreous green specimens are ab. virescens Tutt; — a rare and handsome form of the males called by Tutt ab. brunnea-virescens has the deep red-brown and olive-green tints combine.forewing blackish = obscura Lenz.].
Larvae are reddish ochreous, paler at the sides and with brown spots; dorsal line paler; a dark pale-edged bar across the 12th segment; spiracles pale on dark spots.
[Image:Buckler W The larvæ of the British butterflies and moths PlateLXXIV.jpg|thumb|140px|left|2,2a,2b larva after last moult]