Marbled minor

Last updated

Marbled minor
Oligia.strigilis.7217.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Superfamily: Noctuoidea
Family: Noctuidae
Genus: Oligia
Species:
O. strigilis
Binomial name
Oligia strigilis

The marbled minor (Oligia strigilis) 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, east through the Palearctic to central Asia and the Altai Mountains. It rises to heights of over 1500 meters in the Alps.

Contents

This is a rather small species (wingspan 24–29 mm), the forewings usually being dark brown with a pale subterminal band, the hindwings pale brown. Melanic forms are often encountered, especially in industrial areas.

Technical description and variation

Its wingspan is 24–29 mm. Forewing brownish grey, reddish grey, reddish brown, or blackish; the space between outer and submarginal lines often white or grey, or luteous (muddy yellow), rufous or concolorous with ground colour; the three stigmata ringed with black, either paler than the ground or lost in the dark suffusion; inner and outer lines blackish, conversely edged with paler and dentatelunulate, the pale edging of outer line generally more conspicuous, whitish, below the middle; terminal area dark, forming two blotches one on each fold; a dark costal blotch before submarginal line; a slight black dash from base below cell, and another above inner margin near base; hindwing dark or light fuscous; the type form has the outer band whitish and the ground colour reddish grey or reddish brown. [1]

This species is almost identical to its relatives the rufous minor (O. versicolor) and the tawny marbled minor (O. latruncula) and identification generally requires dissection to study the genitalia. See Townsend et al. [2] for genitalia images and an identification key. This species averages slightly larger than its two cousins but the dimensions of all three species overlap. It flies at night from May to July and is attracted to light and sugar.

Fig. 1, 1a, 1b larva after last moult Buckler W The larvae of the British butterflies and moths PlateLXVIII.jpg
Fig. 1, 1a, 1b larva after last moult

The larva is purplish brown with yellow stripes and feeds internally in various grasses including Agropyron , Dactylis , Elymus (syn. Elytrigia) and Poa . [3] This species overwinters as a larva.

Habitats include, forests, meadows, moors, rocky areas, park-like landscapes, steppe and settlements.

  1. ^ The flight season refers to the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garden dart</span> Species of moth

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bright-line brown-eye</span> Species of moth

The bright-line brown-eye 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 a common species throughout Europe, but is also found in North Africa, temperate North Asia and Central Asia, Asia Minor, Syria, and Turkestan, northern India, China, Korea and Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burnet companion</span> Species of moth

The burnet companion moth is a moth of the family Erebidae. It is found in most of the Palearctic realm, from Ireland in the west to Mongolia and Siberia in the east and south to the Mediterranean and North Africa.

<i>Agrochola circellaris</i> Species of moth

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lunar underwing</span> Species of moth

The lunar underwing is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Adrian Hardy Haworth in 1809. It has a scattered distribution in western Europe including Spain, Scandinavia and Algeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Small angle shades</span> Species of moth

The small angle shades is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is distributed throughout the Palearctic. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angle shades</span> Species of moth

The angle shades 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 as far east as the Urals and also in the Azores, in Algeria, and in Asia Minor, Armenia, and Syria. It is strongly migratory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Straw underwing</span> Species of moth

The straw underwing is a species of moth in 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.

<i>Apamea remissa</i> Species of moth

Apamea remissa, the dusky brocade, is a species of moth of the family Noctuidae. It is distributed throughout Europe and Turkey, ranging across the Palearctic realm to Siberia, Manchuria and Japan. It has also been reported from Alaska.

<i>Orthosia incerta</i> Species of moth

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.

<i>Oligia fasciuncula</i> Species of moth

Oligia fasciuncula, the middle-barred minor, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in Europe.

<i>Fissipunctia ypsillon</i> Species of moth

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

<i>Protodeltote pygarga</i> Species of moth

Protodeltote pygarga, the marbled white spot, is a species of moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in the Palearctic realm.

<i>Calliteara pudibunda</i> Species of moth

Calliteara pudibunda, the pale tussock, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The Dutch common name for the moth (Meriansborstel) comes from the butterfly and insect painter Maria Sibylla Merian. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is found in Asia and Europe.

<i>Allophyes oxyacanthae</i> Species of moth

Allophyes oxyacanthae, the green-brindled crescent, is a moth of the family Noctuidae, found in Europe. The species was described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.

<i>Mythimna straminea</i> Species of moth

Mythimna straminea, the southern wainscot, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Georg Friedrich Treitschke in 1825. It is found in the western parts of the Palearctic realm, including Morocco, Europe, Turkey, the Caucasus, Israel, and Lebanon.

<i>Mesapamea secalis</i> Species of moth

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.

<i>Agrochola helvola</i> Species of moth

Agrochola helvola, the flounced chestnut, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. The species is found in most of Europe, north to Scotland and Fennoscandia up to the Arctic Circle, south to Spain, Sicily, Greece further east to the Middle East, Armenia, Asia Minor, western Turkestan and central Asia up to central Siberia.

<i>Meganephria bimaculosa</i> Species of moth

Meganephria bimaculosa, the double-spot brocade, is a species of moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in most of Europe, in Turkey and the west of Iran. In Anatolia it is represented by the subspecies Meganephria bimaculosa pontica.

<i>Eriopygodes imbecilla</i> Species of moth

Eriopygodes imbecilla, the Silurian, is a moth of the family Noctuidae first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1794.

References

  1. ↑ 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
  2. ↑ Martin C. Townsend, Jon Clifton and Brian Goodey (2010). British and Irish Moths: An Illustrated Guide to Selected Difficult Species. (covering the use of genitalia characters and other features) Butterfly Conservation.
  3. ↑ Robinson, Gaden S.; Ackery, Phillip R.; Kitching, Ian J.; Beccaloni, George W.; Hernández, Luis M. (2010). "Search the database - introduction and help". HOSTS - A Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants. Natural History Museum, London.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.