| Muslin moth | |
|---|---|
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| Female | |
 | |
| Male | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Superfamily: | Noctuoidea |
| Family: | Erebidae |
| Subfamily: | Arctiinae |
| Genus: | Diaphora |
| Species: | D. mendica |
| Binomial name | |
| Diaphora mendica (Clerck, 1759) | |
| Synonyms | |
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Diaphora mendica, the muslin moth, is a moth of the family Erebidae. It is found in the Palearctic realm east to Lake Baikal.
The wingspan is 28–38 mm. There is clear sexual dimorphism in the imago, with the male having a brownish gray colour and a forewing length of 14–17 mm, and the female being white and having a forewing length of 17–19 mm. Male sooty brown-grey, usually with a black dot at the apex of the cell; sometimes without and in other cases with a few accessory dots. The female thinly scaled, milky white, with the abdomen of the same colour; wings very sparsely dotted, ab. rustica Hbn. are males with the ground colour milky white like that of the females. ab. binaghii Tur. are transitional specimens from the normal brown males of mendica to rustica. — Schultz names female specimens with only one black dot ab. depuncta. By pairing the white males of rustica with normal females of mendica (which is an interbreeding of races and not hybridisation, as is usually reported) peculiar sand-coloured males result, which are called standfussi. If the female of standfussi is recrossed with the male of rustica a white and much dotted moth results, the form inversa Car.. But we have true hybridisation if the male of rustica is crossed with another species of the genus, e.g., with Diaphora sordida Hbn.; from this cross-breeding a real hybrid is obtained, viz., f. hybr. viertli Car. This may again be paired with other forms, e.g., viertli with f. inversa Car., by which cross hilaris Car. is obtained, or with mendica, whence beata Car. results, etc. [1]
The female resembles Spilosoma lubricipeda , but that species has longer and smaller wings and a yellow and black back.
The moth flies April to July depending on the location.
Egg light yellow. Larva grey-brown, greenish laterally, with reddish brown warts and foxy red hairs; on the back a median line, which is sometimes indistinct. Pupa stumpy, glossy red brown. The larvae feed on birch, willow, Rumex , Lamium and Plantago .
The ingrailed clay is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775. It is distributed through most of Europe and the Palearctic.
The marbled green is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Johann Reinhold Forster in 1771. It is found in Europe. Its wings are white with several shades of green. However, the green fades.
The purple-edged copper is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae.
The Piedmont ringlet is a member of the family Nymphalidae. It is an Alpine butterfly.
Hypena crassalis, the beautiful snout, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1787. It is found in Europe.
Phytometra viridaria, the small purple-barred, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Carl Alexander Clerck in 1759. It is found in central and southern Europe, Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Armenia, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and further east across the Palearctic to southern Siberia.
Rhizedra lutosa, the large wainscot or Isle of Wight wainscot, is a species of moth of the family Noctuidae. It is native to the Palearctic realm. It has been introduced into eastern North America and is spreading.
Spilosoma lubricipeda, the white ermine, is a moth of the family Erebidae. It is found throughout the temperate belt of Eurasia from Europe through Kazakhstan and southern Siberia to Amur Region, China, Korea and Japan. In China several sibling species occur.
Setina irrorella, the dew moth, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is found in the Palearctic from Ireland, then through Europe and east to northern and central Asia to the Pacific Ocean. It is missing in the high north and parts of the Mediterranean region. It is found also in the limestone Alps up to 2,000 meters above sea level.
Nudaria mundana, the muslin footman, is a moth of the subfamily Arctiinae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1761. It is found in Europe and Anatolia.
Katha depressa, the buff footman, is a moth of the family Erebidae found in Asia and Europe. It was first described by Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper in 1787.
Archanara geminipuncta, the twin-spotted wainscot, is a moth of the family Noctuidae which is found in Europe, Lebanon, Israel, Turkey, Iraq and the Caucasus. The species was first described by Adrian Hardy Haworth in 1809.
Conistra rubiginea, the dotted chestnut, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775. It is distributed in Europe and, according to William Warren, Armenia and Asia Minor.
Chortodes fluxa, the mere wainscot, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1809. It is found in Europe and east across the Palearctic to Siberia, Mongolia, and northern China. Also in northern Turkey and the Caucasus.
Synthymia is a genus of moths of the family Noctuidae. It contains only one species, Synthymia fixa, The Goldwing, which is found in southern Europe and North Africa.
Dicallomera fascelina, the dark tussock, is a moth in the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is found in most of Europe, through the Palearctic to Central Asia to Korea.
Agrotis cinerea, the light feathered rustic, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775. It is found in southern and central Europe, northern Turkey, the Caucasus, western Turkmenia and Central Asia.
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.
Polyommatus (Plebicula) dorylas, the turquoise blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in southern Europe, Asia Minor, the Ural Mountains, Caucasus and Transcaucasia. Its wingspan is 15–17 mm. The butterfly's common name comes from the dazzling bright blue colour of male's wings. The larvae feed on Anthyllis vulneraria. The butterfly flies from May to September in two generations. Habitats include flowery meadows in rocky areas at 500–2000 m.
Eriopygodes imbecilla, the Silurian, is a moth of the family Noctuidae first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1794.
