| Mullein moth | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Superfamily: | Noctuoidea |
| Family: | Noctuidae |
| Genus: | Cucullia |
| Species: | C. verbasci |
| Binomial name | |
| Cucullia verbasci | |
| Synonyms | |
Shargacucullia verbasci(Linnaeus, 1758) | |
The mullein moth (Cucullia verbasci) is a noctuid moth with a Palearctic distribution. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.
The forewing is broad (for the genus) and brownish ochreous; the costal streak and those preceding and following the lower part of outer line are a deep red brown; the lunules following the line are white and conspicuous; the space below median paler, becoming almost whitish above the outer dark brown streak; the stigmata are marked by dark brown spots; a row of deep brown streaks from apex to vein 6, and another, more faint, from below the apex to the end of cell. The hindwing of the male is whitish, with dark veins and cellspot, becoming diffusely fuscous along the termen; in the female it is darker throughout. [1]
The larva is creamy with black and yellow spots.
Cucullia verbasci is difficult to certainly distinguish from these congeners. [2]
It is found in western, southern and central Europe and North Africa. However, there are only individual finds from Denmark and southern Estonia in the north. The eastern presence extends to western Afghanistan. It is also found in Israel and Turkey. In the Alps, it lives up to an altitude of 1,600 metres (5,200 ft).
The Mullein moth mainly occupies dry and warm places, such as scrublands, dry grasslands, on rocky slopes, and on steppes, as well as parks and gardens.
The moth's caterpillar completely strips the leaves of the host plant and can be a horticultural pest. [3] When threatened, the caterpillar freezes and may vomit.
Eggs are laid singly on the under-surface of leaves of food plants. Initially white, they turn grey before hatching.
The larva is the most commonly encountered part of the life cycle, clearly visible as it feeds on the leaves of its host plants. [4] When fully grown it is 44–48 mm (1.7–1.9 in) long. [5]
The pupa is the longest part of the life cycle (up to five years in captivity). It lives underground in a strong cocoon. [4]
The imago displays much variation in size: wingspan ranges between 45 and 56 mm (1.8 and 2.2 in). They also show minor variation in colour. The moth flies from late April to June depending on the location.
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 shark is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.
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.
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.
The marbled minor 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.
The silver Y is a migratory moth of the family Noctuidae which is named for the silvery Y-shaped mark on each of its forewings.
Mythimna l-album, the L-album wainscot, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1767 12th edition of Systema Naturae. It is distributed throughout Europe, but is also found in North Africa from Morocco to Tunisia and in the Levant, then east across the Palearctic to Central Asia. It is not found in the far north of the Arabian Peninsula. The limit in the north varies. It occurs on the northern edge of the range as a migrant. From southern England, then Denmark and southern Scandinavia, the north limit cuts across the Baltic Sea across the Baltic states then south of Moscow to the Urals.
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.
Euxoa obelisca, the square-spot dart, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in the Palearctic realm.
Allophyes oxyacanthae, the green-brindled crescent, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is found in Europe.
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.
Mythimna favicolor, or Mathew's wainscot, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Charles Golding Barrett in 1896. It is found in Europe. The species is sometimes treated as a subspecies of Mythimna pallens, the common wainscot.
Shargacucullia scrophulariae, the water betony, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found throughout Europe, east to Turkey.
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.
Leucania loreyi, the cosmopolitan, false army worm or nightfeeding rice armyworm, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in most of African countries, the Indo-Australian subtropics and tropics of India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, the eastern Palearctic realm, and the Near East and Middle East. The species was first described by Philogène Auguste Joseph Duponchel in 1827.
Cucullia santolinae is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in southern Europe, northern Africa, Turkey, the Caucasus region and Israel.
Shargacucullia lychnitis, the striped lychnis is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found throughout most parts of Europe the Near East and Middle East.
Cucullia absinthii, the wormwood, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1761. It is found from Europe to the Caucasus, Turkey, northern Iran, western Siberia, the Altai mountains, Tien-Shan and Tarbagatai.
The false water betony is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found from south-eastern France, through the Alps and bordering mountains east to Romania and Bulgaria. It is also found in Anatolia and Lebanon.
Cucullia xeranthemi is a species of moth of the family Noctuidae. In southern Europe, it is found locally from northern Spain, Italy and southern France to the Balkans. In the east, it is found from Lower Austria and Hungary to southern Russia and western Siberia.
