Heliothis incarnata Freyer, 1838

Matov, Alexej, Zahiri, Reza & Holloway, Jeremy D., 2008, The Heliothinae of Iran (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), Zootaxa 1763, pp. 1-37 : 8

Heliothis incarnata Freyer, 1838

Pl. 1, fig. 5; male genitalia Pl. 4, fig. 24; female genitalia Pl. 8, fig. 40.

Heliothis incarnata Freyer, 1838 , Neuere Beitr. Schmetterlingskde 3: 91, Tab. 256, Fig.4 (TL.: [ Turkey]: [Istanbul]). Synonymy: Heliothis boisduvalii Boisduval, 1840 ; Rhodocleptria incarnata f. bernaldezina Fernandez, 1951. References: Modarres Awal 1999 ( Rhodocleptria incarnata ), Gutleb & Wiesser 2001 ( Chazaria incarnata ), Hacker

2001; Ebert & Hacker 2002 ( Heliothis incarnata ).

Systematic notes: The forewing upperside varies from reddish-brown, through sandy-brown, to pale yellowgreen, with all possible intergrades (Hacker 2001).

Bionomics: Bivoltine (but univoltine according to Hacker 2001). Moths flying from February to October. The species inhabits dry rocky and chalky steppes and semi-deserts in the plains on elevation up to 2600 m. The early stages have been described by Hampson (1903) and Spuler (1908). Larvae feed on Gypsophila juzepczukii , Silene vespertina , S. viscosa , S. volgensis .

Distribution: West Palaearctic. Central and South Europe, North Africa, Near East, Caucasus, Transcaucasia, Central Asia, Kazakhstan. – In Iran (Pl. 10, fig. 53) occurs in northern, western and southern provinces.

Material examined: 207 specimens from provinces West Azerbaijan, East Azerbaijan, Golestan, Khorasan, Tehran, Qom, Hamedan, Zanjan, Lorestan, Khuzestan, Fars, Kerman, Bushehr, Hormozgan and Sistan va Baluchestan, collected between 28.II to 2.X on elevations from 30 to 2600 m.