Adult males have a wingspan of 32–36 millimetres (1.3–1.4 in); adult females have a wingspan of 33–39 millimetres (1.3–1.5 in). 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]
These moths live in forests and in mountain forests, in nutrient-poor grasslands and especially in partly humid alpine pastures.[4]
Bibliography
Michael Fibiger: Noctuinae II. - Noctuidae Europaeae, Volume 2. Entomological Press, Sorø, 1993, ISBN87-89430-02-6
Erstbeschreibung: (1775): Ankündung eines systematischen Werkes von den Schmetterlingen der Wienergegend herausgegeben von einigen Lehrern am k. k. Theresianum. 1-323, pl. I a+b, Frontispiz. Wien (Augustin Bernardi).
LepIndex: The Global Lepidoptera Names Index. Beccaloni G.W., Scoble M.J., Robinson G.S. & Pitkin B.
Manfred Koch: Wir bestimmen. Schmetterlinge. Band 3. Eulen. Neumann Verlag Radebeul 2. Auflage 1972
Hochspringen Bundesamt für Naturschutz (Hrsg.): Rote Liste gefährdeter Tiere Deutschlands. Landwirtschaftsverlag, Münster 1998, ISBN3-89624-110-9
^Warren, W. in Seitz, A. Ed., 1914 Die Großschmetterlinge der Erde, Verlag Alfred Kernen, Stuttgart Band 3: Abt. 1, Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen eulenartigen Nachtfalter, 1914 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.