About Hecatera bicolorata Hufnagel, 1766
This is a fairly distinctive small moth species with a 28–35 mm wingspan. Its forewings are white or sometimes bluish-grey, marked with a broad dark olive-fuscous median band. The claviform stigma has black edges; the upper stigmata are pale grey with dark centres. The base and outer area of the forewing, as well as the head and thorax, are pure white. The hindwings are whitish grey with fuscous veins and a fuscous marginal border, and are darker in females. Below is the technical description of this species, also referenced under synonyms P. serena Schiff. (= placida Esp., hieracii Scriba, bicolorata Led., intermedia Walk. (17 f)). Forewing bluish grey with a dark olive fuscous median area; claviform stigma black-edged; upper stigmata pale grey with dark centres; hindwing whitish grey, darker in the female, with fuscous veins and a fuscous marginal border. The form leuconota Ev. (? = monticola Dup.) (17f) has pure white base and outer area of the forewing, along with pure white head and thorax. This form occurs in south-eastern Russia, and is the prevalent form in Britain. Spuler differentiated pale specimens with a well-marked marginal area as the aberration ab. leucomelaena, while the name albicans Spuler. applies to rare cases where the central field is also broken up by white. The aberration obscura Stgr. (17f) is a very uniform dark grey form. The larva is yellowish green or brown, with dark blotches along the dorsal and subdorsal regions; the spiracular line is yellow and distinct; the head is greenish yellow. It feeds on flowers of various Compositae, including Hieracium and Sonchus.
