About Xylena exsoleta Linnaeus, 1758
Technical description and variation: The wingspan of Xylena exsoleta ranges from 58 to 68 mm, and forewing length measures 24 to 29 mm. Forewings are long and narrow. This species differs from Xylena vetusta by its primarily dark or blackish grey coloration; its ochreous base color only appears as a longitudinal streak above the median vein that broadens along vein 5. The orbicular stigma is large, well-defined, and marked with a black linear center and outline. Wing lines are marked by paired black spots on the veins. The submarginal line is preceded by two wedge-shaped black marks that do not reach the reniform stigma. The hindwing is dark fuscous. Xylena exsoleta shares the same full distribution range as Xylena vetusta. Several geographic and color forms have been described: the Central Asian form, differentiated by Staudinger as ab. impudica, has a paler, more ashy grey ground color with less distinct markings. In ab. obscurata Spul., the entire forewing is suffused with brown. The opposite variation, ab. pallescens ab. nov. [Warren], lacks all black and grey shading; the whole forewing, except for a narrow strip along the costa, is pearly grey. In ab. pallescens, markings remain as distinct as in the typical form, and the hindwing is quite pale fuscous. Four male specimens of this form from Europe are held in the Tring Museum; one is labelled as coming from Crimmitschau, while the other three have no more precise locality data. Distribution: This species is found from the Canary Islands and north-western Africa, through Europe, the Near East and central Asia, and extends as far east as the Pacific coast and Japan. Habitat: These moths favor moorlands and woodlands.
