Deltote (Deltote) bankiana

• Subfamily: Eustrotiinae
• Wingspan: 20-28 mm
• Flight period: May - Sep
• Spread: Uncommon
• Host plants: Cyperaceae, Poaceae

Information

The Deltote bankiana also called Silver Barred is a moth of the Noctuidae family, subfamily Eustrotiinae, with a wingspan of 20-28 mm.
It is distributed in most of Europe, it is absent from Portugal, Norway and northern European Russia. Despite being present in almost all of Europe, it is localized and therefore uncommon.
In Italy it is absent from the islands. *

The wings of the Deltote bankiana are light brown with olive shades, it has two parallel white stripes tilted backwards and with irregular edges. The apex is rounded, the wing edge is fringed and white in color like the junction of the wing itself. The hind wings are cream colored with brown dusting and with a brown line on the outer edge.
Head, thorax and the abdomen are olive brown color with white dusting

The Deltote bankiana flies in one or, in particular conditions, two generations, flies from May to the end of July, in the case of the second generation it can be seen flying also in August and September. ***
Mostly crepuscular, it can also be observed both during the day and at night. It turns out to be an adaptable species, even if it prefers marshy soils and humid meadows, it is not difficult to meet it even in sandy soils at times arid, from the basal to the mountain level up to 1500 meters.

The eggs are lenticular, convex, knurled, of a glossy white color. **
The caterpillar is light green to yellow with a darker dorsal line and yellow subdorsal lines, the head is green.
The chrysalis is squat, brown in color with greenish hues and with hooked curved appendages on the Cremaster. **

The larva feeds on Cyperaceae such as Carex and Cyperus and on Poaceae such as Calamagrostis, Poa annua and Poa pratensis.


* Lepidoptera mundi https://lepidoptera.eu/ - Fauna Europea https://fauna-eu.org/
** Bestimmungshilfe für die in Europa nachgewiesenen Schmetterlingsarten - http://lepiforum.de/
*** Roland Robineau, Guide de papillons nocturne de France, Delachaux et Niestlé, 2011 p.104