About Tiliacea aurago (Denis & Schiffermüller), 1775
Tiliacea aurago (Denis & Schiffermüller), 1775 has the following technical description and variation. The typical form C. aurago F. (= praetexta Esp.) (24 h) has yellow forewings, which are deeper yellow in females than in males. The basal area of the forewing is greyish purple, bounded by a wavy yellow inner line, and yellow along the costa. Beyond the yellow outer line, the terminal area is greyish purple, crossed by an interrupted yellow submarginal line that is sometimes swollen at the apex. The orbicular and reniform stigmata are purplish, diffuse, and ill-defined; the orbicular stigma is round. Traces of a curved median line are present. Hindwings are yellow, and reddish toward the termen. In the form rutilago F. (24 h), the ground colour is deep orange, with barely any trace of stigmata, and the base of the basal area and the broader submarginal line are also deep dull orange. Another form, apparently just as common as the typical form, has the yellow central area heavily mottled with orange; this is ab. marmorata ab. nov. [Warren] (24 h). lutea Tutt is a rare form where the entire forewing is pale yellow, with only the lines coloured greyish-purple. Two additional, more or less unicolorous forms are found: one where orange ground colour overwhelms the purple and spreads across the whole wing, ab. unicolor Tutt; the other, fucata Esp. (24 i), (= ? virgata Tutt), is more or less entirely purplish ferruginous, with a still darker terminal area. Across all forms, females show less contrast between the two colours due to their deeper ground colour. The larva is red-brown, paler and somewhat greenish toward the anterior end. It has a whitish dorsal line that is interrupted at each segment, and edged with dark. Tubercular dots are pale and inconspicuous. The wingspan of this species ranges from 27–32 mm.
