About Drymonia ruficornis (Hufnagel, 1766)
This moth species, Drymonia ruficornis (Hufnagel, 1766), has a wingspan of 35–40 mm. Its forewings are dark fuscous, nearly blackish, with a short white line near the base. The central third of the forewing is white, clouded with the base wing color, and bounded by black wavy lines edged with white; a black crescent sits just above the center of the wing. Hindwings are smoky grey with a pale curved line, and the species is very similar to Drymonia dodonaea. In detailed technical terms, the thorax ranges from greyish brown to light grey, and the abdomen is light brown. The forewing is dark grey-brown, with dark pre-discal and postdiscal zigzag bands arranged the same way as in Drymonia querna, but positioned closer together, especially at the hind margin. The pre-discal band is edged with white on its proximal side, while the postdiscal band is edged with white on its distal side. The median area between the two transverse bands is paler grey, and holds a sharp black crescent-shaped discal spot. A whitish wavy line appears in the marginal area, and is often absent. The hindwing is light grey-brown. In southern regions ranging from southern Central Europe southward, a uniformly darker form called grisea Turati predominates, in which the median area of the forewing is also darkened. Another form, named ab. lunula nov., is intermediate between grisea and typical ruficornis; its whitish color is restricted to the outer half of the median area beyond the wing cell, and is usually interrupted in the center, splitting into separate costal and hindmarginal patches. This aberration is also found in southern districts. The egg of Drymonia ruficornis is green. The larva is pale green, with four equally spaced chrome-yellow longitudinal lines; the two dorsal lines are sometimes whitish, and the lateral lines align with the black-edged spiracles. The pupa is black-brown with lighter segmental incisions, and develops underground in a silk-lined cell.
