| Calophasia lunula | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Superfamily: | Noctuoidea |
| Family: | Noctuidae |
| Genus: | Calophasia |
| Species: | C. lunula |
| Binomial name | |
| Calophasia lunula (Hufnagel, 1766) | |
Calophasia lunula is a Palearctic species of noctuid moth known by the common names toadflax moth and toadflax brocade moth.
C. lunula Hufn. (= linariae Esp.) (29 b). Forewing bluish grey, suffused with olive fuscous, especially in median area and along an oblique fascia from apex to before anal angle; lines double, filled in with grey, but only distinct below middle, curved and approximating; claviform stigma elongate, bluish grey edged with black; orbicular small, flattened, white edged with black ; reniform conspicuous, white with black lateral edges; some black streaks in the intervals across the oblique apical fascia; fringe chequered, olive brown and grey;hindwing dingy grey with the veins and braces of outer line darker; a smoky blackish broad terminal border. Larva bluish grey, with all the lines yellow; a dorsal series of transverse oblong velvety black blotches, and lateral series of black spots. [1] 12 millimeters long.
Calophasia lunula extends throughout Europe including Central Europe and Southern Europe to Russia and Central Asia and the Russian Far East. It is missing in Japan. It is an introduced species in parts of Canada and the United States. In the Alps it is found at altitudes up to 2000 meters. The species prefers warm slopes, heathlands and wastelands.
The female lays anywhere from 30 to 80 eggs on the leaves and flowers of toadflax plants. In one to two weeks the larva emerges from the egg and begins feeding. This caterpillar undergoes five molts during a one-month period. The first-stage larva is about 5 millimeters long and dark gray in color. The eyecatching older larvae are black and white spotted with bright yellow stripes. The mature larva is about 4 centimeters long. After this stage it pupates through the winter in a cocoon of chewed plant matter and leaf litter.
Damage to the plants is done by the voracious feeding of the caterpillars. They consume all the new leaf and flower buds first and then move on to eat stems, leaves, and flowers, often to the point of complete defoliation of large numbers of toadflax plants. This does not necessarily kill the plants but it severely reduces their ability to produce seeds and propagate. Adults feed harmlessly on the plants' nectar and do not contribute to the damage. It is used as an agent of biological pest control against yellow toadflax (Linaria vulgaris) and Dalmatian toadflax (Linaria genistifolia ssp. dalmatica) in areas where they are considered noxious weeds in North America. It was first introduced to Canada as a biocontrol agent in the early 1960s, and to the United States shortly thereafter. The moth is now established in many areas. It tends not to establish as easily in colder climates.
The yellow-tail, goldtail moth or swan moth is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Johann Kaspar Füssli in 1775, and has commonly been placed within the related genus Euproctis. It is distributed throughout Europe to the Urals, then east across the Palearctic to Siberia and south to India and Sri Lanka.
The purple hairstreak is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae distributed throughout much of Europe, North Africa, Anatolia, Caucasia, and Transcaucasia. The larva feeds on Quercus robur, Quercus petraea, Quercus cerris and Quercus ilex.
The beet armyworm or small mottled willow moth is one of the best-known agricultural pest insects. It is also known as the asparagus fern caterpillar. It is native to Asia, but has been introduced worldwide and is now found almost anywhere its many host crops are grown. The voracious larvae are the main culprits. In the British Isles, where it is an introduced species and not known to breed, the adult moth is known as the small mottled willow moth.
The grey chi is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is distributed throughout Europe, although it is not present in southern Spain and Greece, as well as northern Fennoscandia. It is also found across the Palearctic including Central Asia, to the Russian Far East but not in Japan.
Agrochola circellaris, or The Brick, is a species of moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel in 1766. It is distributed throughout most of Europe, Asia Minor and Armenia.
The straw underwing is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel in 1766. It is found from North Africa west through South Europe and Central Europe. In the north it is in parts of Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Estonia. Further east the range stretches from southern Russia and Asia minor to the Caucasus.
Linaria vulgaris, the common toadflax, yellow toadflax or butter-and-eggs, is a species of flowering plant in the family Plantaginaceae, native to Europe, Siberia and Central Asia. It has also been introduced and is now common in North America.
Daphnis nerii, the oleander hawk-moth or army green moth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It was described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.
Tyta luctuosa is a noctuid ("owlet") moth. Its common names include four-spotted moth and field bindweed moth. It is the only member of the genus Tyta, which belongs to the Metoponiinae subfamily. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775. The genus was erected by Gustaf Johan Billberg in 1820.
The silver Y is a migratory moth of the family Noctuidae which is named for the silvery Y-shaped mark on each of its forewings.
Atethmia centrago, the centre-barred sallow, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Adrian Hardy Haworth in 1809. It is found in Europe except Scandinavia and Italy; also in Asia Minor, Armenia, Syria and Palestine.
Lacanobia thalassina, the pale-shouldered brocade, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in Europe east across the Palearctic to the Russian Far East and Siberia.
Herminia grisealis, the small fan-foot, is a litter moth of the family Erebidae. It is found in Europe. The eastern expansion is across the Palearctic to the Ussuri River and after that Japan. In the Alps it rises up to a height of 1300 meters.
Eurois occulta, the great brocade or great gray dart, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in northern and central Europe, North Asia and central Asia to the Pacific Ocean and Japan. Also the northern parts of North America. In addition, it is found in Greenland and Iceland. In the south in northern Spain and on the Balkan peninsula.
Coranarta cordigera, the small dark yellow underwing, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Carl Peter Thunberg in 1788. It can be found in parts of Europe, mainly in the north. In central and southern Europe it is only found in mountainous areas. In the Alps for instance, it is found up to elevations of 2,200 meters.
Agrochola litura, the brown-spot pinion, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1761. It is found in Europe and the Middle East. It is possibly also present in North Africa, but this is unclear because similar looking species Agrochola meridionalis is found there.
Calophasia platyptera, the antirrhinum brocade, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper in 1788. It is found in Europe, the Near East, the western Sahara, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.
The shoulder-striped clover is a species of moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in most of Europe, Ukraine, southern Russia and southern Siberia, Transbaikalia, Turkey, central Asia, China, Japan, the Korean Peninsula, Mongolia, northern India, Pakistan, the Russian Far East.
Lithomoia solidaginis, the golden-rod brindle, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1803. It is found in most of Europe, except the Iberian Peninsula, Ireland, Iceland and the western and southern part of the Balkan Peninsula. Then eastwards to the Urals, Kamchatka and Japan.In the Alps it rises to about 1500 meters. It is found mainly on marshy ground, in humid mixed forests as well as in tundra - and taiga areas.
Eugraphe sigma is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found from most of Europe to the Ural, Siberia, Transcaucasia, Armenia and Korea.
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