About Xylena vetusta Hübner, 1813
Technical description and variation. The wingspan of Xylena vetusta is 52–65 mm, and its forewings are long and narrow. Forewing colouring is pale greyish ochreous, with the inner marginal half suffused with fuscous or blackish brown, less strongly so beyond the middle. The orbicular stigma is obsolescent, marked by one or two brown dots, and only rarely outlined. The reniform stigma is large and pale, with a double brown outline. It is followed by a patch of brown scaling, which is joined by a black brown sagittate mark to the pale serrate subterminal line. A diffuse black blotch within the dark scaling represents the claviform stigma. The lines are very indistinct, only indicated by dark vein spots. The hindwing is brownish fuscous. In the aberration albida Spul., a diffuse streak of white scales runs from the base along the middle of the wing, extending to the space below the reniform and obliquely upwards to the apex. Across the species, females have dark markings more mixed with blackish grey, while males have dark markings more mixed with brown. In the aberration brunnea Tutt, the ground colour is brighter ochreous, the dark shading is brown or black brown, and all grey and white scaling is entirely absent.
