Heart and dart

The heart and dart (Agrotis exclamationis) is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. A familiar moth to many, it is considered one of the most common of the European region. It occurs throughout the Palearctic realm from Ireland to Japan.

Mounted

Male

Female

Heart and dart
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Superfamily:	Noctuoidea
Family:	Noctuidae
Genus:	Agrotis
Species:	A. exclamationis
Binomial name
Agrotis exclamationis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
Euxoa exclaimationis Euxoa serena

This is a quite variable species with forewings ranging from pale to dark brown but always recognizable by the distinctively shaped dark stigmata which give it its common name. The hindwings are whitish (compared with other common Agrotis species, the hindwings of this species are usually paler than in heart and club but darker than in turnip moth). The wingspan is 35–44 mm. This species usually has a dark area at the front of the thorax, visible as a horizontal bar when viewing the moth head on. This moth flies at night from May to July and is attracted to light, sometimes in large numbers. It also frequently visits nectar-rich flowers such as Buddleia, ragwort and red valerian.

The larva is brown above and grey below and feeds on a variety of plants, both wild and cultivated (see list below). This is one of the notorious cutworms and often severs or fatally damages plants at the base. The species overwinters as a full-grown larva in a chamber in the soil before pupating in the spring.

1. ^ The flight season refers to the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range.