Mythimna comma (Linn.) (Leucania comma) Shoulder-striped Wainscot
p68. Resident, widespread and locally common.
Senta flammea (Curt.) (Meliana flammea)
p66. ?Vagrant. very rare; one record only, at 12 Hamford Water, 1972*.
Flame Wainscot
Cuculliinae
Hairless eyes with long lashes help distinguish these moths from all other noctuids except the
Plusiinae; many have elongate, narrow forewings. About two-thirds emerge in autumn and some of
these overwinter as adults. Several more appear in early spring. More species pass the winter in the
egg stage and fewer as larvae than is usual in the Noctuidae. The larvae feed above ground. The pupa
is usually subterranean in a strong cocoon. There are 66 British (47 Essex) species.
Cucullia absinthii (Linn.) The Wormwood
p82. Resident, very local; unknown before 1949 but since established in south Essex; locally fairly
common. 38 Walthamstow Marshes. 1972 (BW); 48 Plaistow, larvae(WLC), East Ham, from 1982
(CWP); 58 Rainham, larvae (WLC), Cranham, 1975 (WLC); 67 Grays 1981-82 (DJLA); 68
Stanford-le-Hope, larva 1982 (DJLA, AME); 84 Liston, 1984 (BWJP); 90 Bradwell-on-Sea, 1983
(SFJD).
Cucullia artemisiae (Hufn.) Scarce Wormwood
p82. ?Resident. very rare; one record only, of a larva at 30 Nazeing in 1971*.
Cucullia chamomillae (D. & S.)
p81. Resident, increasingly local ;not common
Chamomile Shark
Cucullia umbratica (Linn.) The Shark
p81. Resident, still fairly widespread and locally fairly common, but evidence of decline.
Cucullia asteris (D. & S.) Star-wort
p81. Resident, locally common; confined to the coast and estuaries and their vicinity.
Cucullia lychnitis (Ramb.) Striped Lychnis
p82. Vagrant, very rare; one record only, at 90 Bradwell-on-Sea in 1951*.
Cucullia verbasci (Linn.)
p82. Resident, local; locally fairly common.
The Mullein
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