About Eublemma ostrina (Hübner, 1808)
Technical description and variation: The wingspan of Eublemma ostrina measures 18–25 millimetres (0.71–0.98 in). The forewings are cream white, with a faint pale brown tint across the basal half and terminal area. The median shade is diffuse and slightly outcurved, and is immediately followed by a black dot that marks the reniform stigma. Just beyond this dot, on the costa, an oblique purplish bar extending to vein 6 represents the outer line. The submarginal line is whitish, sharply indented on each fold and outcurved between them; the space between the outer and submarginal lines is filled with purple, except on the costa beyond the median line. The interspaces between the veins are often streaked with a deeper purple. There is a purple spot at the apex, with a blackish speck below it. A purplish streak runs from the base below the cell. The terminal line is brown, edged with white on the inner side. The fringe is white, with a brownish tone in the middle. The hindwings are brownish grey, darker along the termen, with a dark terminal line and white fringe. Specimens from Algeria and Morocco have the whole forewing, except for sections along the costa, suffused with olive grey brown in addition to the purplish tint between the two lines; this form is named ab. suffusa ab. nov. [Warren]. Aestivalis Guen., which is likely the early summer brood, has the purplish tint restricted only to the shade immediately before the submarginal line; the hindwings are paler, almost white in males, and individuals are smaller in wingspan. Carthami H. Sch., thought to be the late summer brood, has a creamy ground colour with a faint pale brown tint along the median line and on each side of the submarginal line; the submarginal line is sometimes accompanied externally by a few isolated black scales. The apical patch is grey brown, the hindwing is creamy with a brown tint before the termen, and the fringe is white. Distribution: Eublemma ostrina occurs throughout the Mediterranean region, including North Africa, and is only occasionally found in Central Europe. Eastward, its range extends through southern Russia, Asia Minor, and Afghanistan. Occasional records in northern Europe, such as a 1992 record from the United Kingdom, usually involve migrant moths; however, larvae and pupae were found in South Devon and the Isle of Portland in 1999. This species inhabits warm, dry areas.
