The miller | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Superfamily: | Noctuoidea |
Family: | Noctuidae |
Genus: | Acronicta |
Species: | A. leporina |
Binomial name | |
Acronicta leporina | |
The miller (Acronicta leporina) is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found throughout Europe apart from the far south-east. The range extends from the South of Spain, Central Italy and Bulgaria to Scotland and Central Scandinavia, crossing the Arctic Circle in Finland and Norway. Outside Europe it is only known in North Africa. In the Eastern Palearctic and the Nearctic realm it is replaced by Acronicta vulpina, (Grote, 1883) formerly known as Acronicta leporina subspecies vulpina.
This is a variable but always distinctive species, the forewings ranging from almost white to dark grey (pale grey being the most common colour form) with characteristic crescent-shaped black markings. The hindwings are white. The wingspan is 1.5-1.69 in (38–43 mm). Adults of this species fly at night from June to August and will come to light and sugar but are not especially strongly attracted.
Forewing white, the lines indicated by black spots. Larva pale green, or yellowish, with long silky white hairs, which are also sometimes yellowish, curling over the sides; — ab. bradyporina Tr. (3a), occurring in N. Europe and the commoner form in Britain, has the wings dusted with grey, and the markings more developed. — ab. semivirga Tutt has the outer margin of forewing broadly grey. — In leporella Stgr. (= cineracea Graes.) (3 a) confined to Eastern Asia and Japan, the forewing is greyish white with indistinct markings. — ab. rosea Tutt (= la rose Engr.) is said to have the forewing and the segmental incisions of abdomen of a bright rose colour. [1]
The larva is green, covered in long white or yellow hairs. It feeds on a variety of trees (see list below), often feeding on bark and soft wood. This species overwinters as a pupa, sometimes spending two winters in this form.
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 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 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.
Mythimna ferrago, the clay, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1787. It is distributed throughout Europe and is also found in Morocco, Algeria, Turkey, Asia Minor, Armenia, Syria, Turkestan, Israel, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Central Asia and the western parts of temperate North Asia. Also Tibet.
Mythimna pallens, the common wainscot, is a moth of the family Noctuidae distributed throughout the Palearctic realm from Ireland in the west, through Europe to Central Asia and Amur to the Kuriles in the east. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.
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.
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.
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.
The poplar grey is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found throughout Europe.
The sycamore 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 through most of Europe, from central England south to Morocco. To the east it is found from the Near East and Middle East to western Asia.
The marbled beauty is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel in 1766. It is an abundant species throughout most of Europe east to the Urals, and it is probably the most common lichenivorous moth of the Palearctic realm.
Apamea monoglypha, the dark arches, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel in 1766. It is a common, sometimes abundant, European species. It is found in most of Europe except northernmost Fennoscandia and the southern parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Greece. The species is also found in Anatolia, Turkestan, Western Asia and Central Asia, Siberia and Mongolia. In the Alps it is found up to heights of 2,500 meters. The smaller subspecies sardoa is found on Sardinia and Corsica.
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.
Apamea sordens, the rustic shoulder-knot or bordered apamea, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel in 1766. It is distributed throughout Europe, east across the Palearctic to Central Asia and to China and Japan. It also occurs in North America.
Conistra erythrocephala, the red-headed chestnut, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is distributed in central and southern Europe and is recorded from Asia Minor, (Amasia).
Acronicta euphorbiae, the sweet gale moth, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775.
Acronicta menyanthidis, the light knot grass, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is distributed through northern, central and eastern Europe, east to Siberia and the Russian Far East.
Acronicta strigosa, the marsh dagger, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is distributed through most of Europe, east to the Caucasus, northern China, Korea and Japan.