Antler moth | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Superfamily: | Noctuoidea |
Family: | Noctuidae |
Genus: | Cerapteryx |
Species: | C. graminis |
Binomial name | |
Cerapteryx graminis | |
Synonyms | |
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.
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.
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 graminis [gramineis in text], 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]
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.
The pine beauty is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is a common species of pine woods in Europe. The distribution area extends from Portugal to western Siberia, the Caucasus and Asia Minor. In the north it extends to the Arctic Circle, in the south it is found in Ceuta in Northern Africa in and southern Italy.
The garden dart is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is distributed throughout much of the Palearctic. Temperate regions of Europe, Central Asia and North Asia, as well as the mountains of North Africa. Absent from polar regions, on Iceland and some Mediterranean islands, as well as in Macaronesia.
The square-spot rustic is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in Europe, North Africa and east across the Palearctic and in North America.
The common Quaker is a moth of the family Noctuidae first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775. Some authors prefer the synonym Orthosia stabilis(Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775). It is distributed throughout Europe and is also found in Turkey, Israel, Transcaucasia, Russia and eastern Siberia.
The Hebrew character is a moth in the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is found throughout Europe.
The minor shoulder-knot is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1776. It is distributed throughout Europe then east across the Palearctic to Siberia and Japan. It also occurs in Turkey.
Apamea crenata, known as the clouded-bordered brindle, is a moth in the family Noctuidae. It is distributed throughout the Palearctic realm. In the North it crosses the Arctic Circle, in the Mediterranean it is found only in cool locations and mountains avoiding very hot areas. In the Alps, it rises to an altitude of about 2000 metres.
Orthosia incerta, the clouded drab, is a species of moth of the family Noctuidae, found in Europe and Asia. 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 and in the Alps it occurs up to 2000 m above sea level.
Luperina testacea, the flounced rustic, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in Europe, Asia Minor and Armenia.
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, as well as Kashmir.
Fissipunctia ypsillon, the dingy shears, is a species of moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in the Palearctic realm.
Polia bombycina is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in the Palearctic realm from Ireland to Japan including the Russian Far East and Siberia.
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.
Euxoa cursoria, the coast dart, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in northern and central Europe as well as the coastal regions of the British Isles, central Siberia, Mongolia, Tibet and Afghanistan. The subspecies Euxoa cursoria wirima is found in Canada.
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.
Agrotis vestigialis, the archer's dart, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel in 1766. It is found in most of the Palearctic realm from Ireland east, through to Russia, Siberia, the Altai Mountains and the Amur region, and is also present in the Mediterranean Basin. It is absent from the north of Finland and Norway.
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