Mythimna litoralis

Mythimna litoralis, the shore wainscot, is a moth of the family Noctuidae.

Illustration from John Curtis's British Entomology Volume 5

Shore wainscot
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Superfamily:	Noctuoidea
Family:	Noctuidae
Genus:	Mythimna
Species:	M. litoralis
Binomial name
Mythimna litoralis (Curtis, 1827)

A strictly coastal species,^[1] it is found in Europe and Morocco in areas close to the shore. The wingspan is 36–42 mm. It is an ochre-colored moth having a distinctive white streak bordered with dark fine lines along the length of the forewing.

Technical description and variation

For a key to the terms used, see Glossary of entomology terms.

The wingspan is 36–42 mm. Forewing smooth pale ochreous suffused with brown except along costa;median vein white, outlined with fuscous; the nervules towards termen whitish; the terminal interspaces with brown streaks; hindwing pure white. A coast species found in Britain, Denmark, N. Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Spain.^[2] See also Hacker et al.^[3]

Figs 1, 1a, 1b

Larva reddish yellow; dorsal line fine, pale with dark edges; subdorsal lines blackish; spiracles black on a pale lateral stripe; head and thoracic plate yellowish. The larvae are monophagous, feeding exclusively on marram (Ammophila arenaria) leaves, a plant that grows on dunes along the shoreline.^[4]