Cerapteryx graminis

Antler moth
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Superfamily:	Noctuoidea
Family:	Noctuidae
Genus:	Cerapteryx
Species:	C. graminis
Binomial name
	Cerapteryx graminis; (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
	Charaeas graminisLinnaeus, 1758; Heliophobus graminisLinnaeus, 1758; Phalaena graminisLinnaeus, 1758;

Last updated June 19, 2021

Cerapteryx graminis, the antler moth, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is a common species throughout most of Europe but is lacking in the very dry southern regions. The northernmost occurrence is Iceland, and above the Arctic circle. It also occurs in Siberia and in North Mongolia. The species has been introduced to North America. In the Alps it rises to an altitude of 2100 meters.

Description

Illustration from John Curtis's British Entomology Volume 5 Britishentomologyvolume5Plate451.jpg — Illustration from John Curtis's *British Entomology* Volume 5

This species is unusual for a noctuid in that there is marked sexual dimorphism. The male has a wingspan of 27–32 mm but the female is much larger with a wingspan of 35–39 mm. The forewings are brown, speckled with black and marked with a bold white branched basal streak which gives the species its common name. The hindwings are dark brown with a white fringe.

Technical description and variation

Forewing olive grey or olive rufous, or olive fuscous; median and marginal areas sometimes deeper coloured, otherwise the 3 lines are undefined; stigmata pale, especially the reniform, which at base is white, emitting a ray basewards along the median vein, and two externally along veins 3 and 4; claviform elongate; orbicular flattened; hindwing dark fuscous grey, with the basal area pale, sometimes whitish; the fringe white; - in the form tricuspis male Esp. the reniform with its trifid lower end is more strongly developed than usual; - of this obsoleta Tutt is only an extreme form in which the other markings are obsolete; - rufocosta Tutt is a grey form with red costal streak, from the Hebrides; -in hibernicus Curt. the base of cell of forewing bears a pale, elongated, sometimes forked patch; - in albipuncta Sven the white lower end of reniform is entire, without pale ramification: - gramineus Haw. has all the veins whitish, the intervals dark olive, without any rufous mixture, the stigmata and base of cell more conspicuously pale: the submarginal line prominently pale and dentate along the veins, the teeth alternating with the dark teeth of the marginal area: this is the commoner form in the North of Britain, of which the form pallida Tutt is evidently an extreme development, the pale claviform, median vein, and two upper stigmata coalescing to form a broad white band from base; - grisea Spul. from N. Germany is a grey form with the median area well-defined, and may be only an offshoot of gramineis, which is not much known on the continent.^[2]

This moth often flies during the day, especially in warm weather, and is attracted to a range of flowers. It also flies at night and is attracted to light. The adults are on the wing from July to September.^[3]

Life cycle

Young larvae are greenish and change their colour with age to grey-brown to brown. They then appear clumsy and have a roller shape. They also show pale lines as well as black spiracles. The underside and legs are light brown. The head is shiny brownish. The feed on various grasses including Deschampsia , Festuca and Nardus .^[4] It is sometimes so common that it damages pastures. The species overwinters as an egg.

Notes

1 2 3 "Cerapterix graminis". GBIF . Retrieved 2020-01-07.
↑ 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
↑ The flight season refers to the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range.
↑ "Robinson, G. S., P. R. Ackery, I. J. Kitching, G. W. Beccaloni & L. M. Hernández, 2010. HOSTS - A Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants. Natural History Museum, London".

Related Research Articles

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Orthosia incerta, the clouded drab, is a species of moth of the family Noctuoidea. It is found in Europe. The occurrence of the species extends through all European countries through the Palearctic to the Russian Far East and Japan. It is absent from northern Fennoscandia. In the Alps it occurs up to 2000 m above sea level.

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Hada plebeja, the shears, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in Europe and across the Palearctic to Asia Minor, Armenia, Turkestan, Central Asia, Mongolia, Siberia. Also Kashmir.

Fissipunctia ypsillon, the dingy shears, is a species of moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in the Palearctic realm.

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Helotropha leucostigma, the crescent, formerly Celaena leucostigma is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in the Palearctic realm.

Pachetra is a monotypic moth genus of the family Noctuidae erected by Achille Guenée in 1841. Its only species, Pachetra sagittigera, the feathered ear, was first described by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel in 1766. It is found in central and southern Europe, east to the Ural, north to southern England, Sweden and Finland. Southwards it is found from Anatolia, central Asia and the Altai up to Mongolia. It is also present in North Africa.

Mesapamea secalis, the common rustic, 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 found in Europe, north-west Africa, Turkey and northern Iran.

Agrotis ripae, the sand dart, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1823. It is found in western Europe and North Africa and extends east across the Palearctic to steppe areas in Russia, Mongolia and Siberia.

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Agrotis trux, the crescent dart, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1824. It has a circum-Mediterranean distribution and is found along the coasts of France, Ireland, England, southern Europe, Algeria, Syria, Iraq, Iran, southern Russia and the Arabian Peninsula. In Africa, it is found as far south as South Africa.

Apamea oblonga, the crescent striped, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Adrian Hardy Haworth in 1809. It is found in northern and central Europe, east to southern Russia, Asia Minor, Armenia, Turkestan, Turkey, Iran, southern Siberia, northern Pakistan, Mongolia, China, Sakhalin and Japan

Apamea anceps, the large nutmeg, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775.

The Beautiful Gothic(Leucochlaena oditis) is a Palearctic moth of the family Noctuidae, sub-family Cuculliinae. It is found in southern Europe and north Africa, with occasional finds on the southern coast of England.

References

Chinery, Michael (1991) [1986]. Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe.
Skinner, Bernard (1984). Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles.

External links

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[syn1-1] 1 2 3 "Cerapterix graminis". GBIF . Retrieved 2020-01-07.

[2] 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

[flight_season-3] The flight season refers to the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range.

[4] "Robinson, G. S., P. R. Ackery, I. J. Kitching, G. W. Beccaloni & L. M. Hernández, 2010. HOSTS - A Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants. Natural History Museum, London".

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