Taxonomic Information
Forty-four species of Xestia are known from the Indian subcontinent. See the Identification tab for similar species info.
Photo Gallery and Species Biology
Xestia c-nigrum - Setaceous Hebrew Character/ Spotted Cutworm
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Similar species:
Xestia praetermissa (Warren, 1912)
Rhyacia praetermissa Warren, 1912; 6; TL: India, Nilgiri Hills; Ooty
https://www.mothsofborneo.com/part-12/noctuinae/noctuinae_3_1.php says Xestia praetermissa may be a race of c-nigrum.
Xestia ditrapezium (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775)
http://www.lepiforum.de/lepiwiki.pl?Xestia_Ditrapezium [accessed 22 May 2021]
FBI, Hampson, Vol. 2, Pg. 188, # 1647 as Agrotis ditrapezium. FW spot is not triangular.
| State | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | No date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andaman and Nicobar Islands | |||||||||||||
| Andhra Pradesh | |||||||||||||
| Arunachal Pradesh | |||||||||||||
| Assam | |||||||||||||
| Bihar | |||||||||||||
| Chandigarh | |||||||||||||
| Chhattisgarh | |||||||||||||
| Dadra & Nagar Haveli | |||||||||||||
| Daman & Diu | |||||||||||||
| Delhi | |||||||||||||
| Goa | |||||||||||||
| Gujarat | |||||||||||||
| Haryana | |||||||||||||
| Himachal Pradesh | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||
| Jammu and Kashmir UT | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Jharkhand | |||||||||||||
| Karnataka | |||||||||||||
| Kerala | |||||||||||||
| Ladakh UT | |||||||||||||
| Lakshadweep | |||||||||||||
| Madhya Pradesh | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Maharashtra | |||||||||||||
| Manipur | |||||||||||||
| Meghalaya | |||||||||||||
| Mizoram | |||||||||||||
| Nagaland | |||||||||||||
| Odisha | |||||||||||||
| Paschimbanga | |||||||||||||
| Pondicherry | |||||||||||||
| Punjab | |||||||||||||
| Rajasthan | |||||||||||||
| Sikkim | |||||||||||||
| Tamil Nadu | |||||||||||||
| Tripura | |||||||||||||
| Uttar Pradesh | |||||||||||||
| Uttarakhand | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||
| West Bengal | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Total | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
- Phalaena (Noctua) c-nigrum Linnaeus, 1758; Syst. Nat. (Edn 10) 1: 516; TL: Europe.
- Haruta, T. (Ed.). 1992. Moths of Nepal. Part 1. TINEA. Vol. 13 (Supplement 2). The Japan Heterocerists’ Society, Tokyo.Pl. 14/17.
- Hampson, G. F. 1894. The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma. Moths, Vol. 2. Taylor & Francis, London. Arctiidae, Agrostidae, Noctuidae 609 p - 325 figs.Pg. 188, # 1647 as Agrotis c-nigrum.
- Chandra, K., Kumar, V., Singh, N., Raha, A., Sanyal, A.K.2019. Assemblages of Lepidoptera in Indian Himalaya through long term monitoring plots. Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, 1-457 pp. Pl. 146.7.
- http://www.lepiforum.de/lepiwiki.pl?Xestia_C-Nigrum [accessed 22 May 2021]
Page citation
Anonymous 2025. Xestia c-nigrum (Linnaeus, 1758) – Setaceous Hebrew Character/ Spotted Cutworm. In Sondhi, S., R.P. Singh, G. Iyer, J. D'silva and K. Kunte (Chief Editors). Butterflies of India, v. 4.11. Published by the Indian Foundation for Butterflies. URL: https://www.mothsofindia.org/index.php/xestia-c-nigrum, accessed 2025/11/11.