Chersotis cuprea is a moth of the family Noctuidae.
There are three recognised subspecies:
Adult males have a wingspan of 32-; adult females have a wingspan of 33-. This species shows a high variability in the basic colors. Usually, the upper side of the forewings is coppery reddish brown (hence the Latin name cuprea) with dark brown markings that have a thin whitish border. The underside of the forewing is dark gray-brown. The hind wings are monochrome gray-brown. Caterpillars are gray-brown, with dark dorsal markings and bright side stripes.[1] Warren (1914) states R. cuprea Schiff. (= haematitedea Esp.) that the forewing is a dull brown; the median area below the subcostal vein is dark brown; the veins and edges of stigmata are very finely pale; the stigmata are a deep brown; the costa is dark with fine pale speckling and a dark shade before the submarginal line; the hindwing is gray-brown with a yellowish fringe. The species in found in Northern Europe (excluding Britain), Armenia, and Kamschatka. The larvae are dull brown, with 3 whitish dorsal lines, some oblique black subdorsal streaks, and a grey lateral line; The larvae live on various low plants.[2]
The moth flies from July to September depending on the location. The larvae feed on Vaccinium myrtillus, on Asteraceae (Centaurea or Taraxacum) and on other plants.[3] [4]
This species can be found in Northern Europe, the Pyrenees, Central Europe down to Greece and east through Ukraine, Siberia, Turkey, the Caucasus and Armenia, up to China and Japan.[3] [5]
These moths live in forests and in mountain forests, in nutrient-poor grasslands and especially in partly humid alpine pastures.[4]