Pale Shoulder (Acontia lucida)

Scientific name: Acontia lucida (Hufnagel, 1766)
Common name: Pale Shoulder
Other names: Noctuelle maculée
French name: Collier blanc, Noctuelle maculée
Order: Lepidoptera
Suborder: Heterocera
Family: Noctuidae
Subfamily: Acontiinae
Wingspan: 26 à 30 mm.
Biotope: Sunny waste lands, dry meadows, steppes.
Geographic area: Southern Europe. Iran, India.
Flight time: April to September.
Number of generations : 2
Caterpillar: Dark brown with wavy pale brown lateral lines.
Host plant: Field Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), Common Marshmallow (Althaea officinalis), Mallow (Malva spp.)

The front part of the forewings is a greyish white colour with some grey traces.
The forewings show a wide dark brown and olive green median band. This band is larger in the centre and extends forwards with a curved shape.
There is a white mark on the outer edge and a brown mark near the apex.
The Pale Shoulder flies during the day, especially when it's sunny.
It is attracted to light at night.
It overwinters as chrysalis.

Pale Shoulder (Acontia lucida) - Yvelines, France - June 19th 2011

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Almost four years after having observed one Pale Shoulder in the Mediterranean region, here is one observation close to my home near Paris.

Pale Shoulder (Acontia lucida) - Pyrénées Orientales, France - August 25th 2007

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I have observed this Pale Shoulder in a waste land next to the Mediterranean sea.

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André Bon February 2013