| Nutmeg moth | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Superfamily: | Noctuoidea |
| Family: | Noctuidae |
| Genus: | Hadula |
| Species: | H. trifolii |
| Binomial name | |
| Hadula trifolii (Hufnagel, 1766) | |
| Synonyms | |
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The nutmeg (Anarta trifolii or Hadula trifolii), also known as the clover cutworm, is a moth of the family Noctuidae.
It is found in the Western Palearctic (western Europe, Tunisia, Iran), Niger, and Quebec in North America. In the north of its European range it is a summer migrant, not being able to survive the cold winters.
This is a small to medium (wingspan 33–39 mm) species with cryptically coloured forewings, varying from light to dark brown, sometimes with a reddish tinge. The most characteristic feature is a distinctively "W"-shaped, white subterminal line. This feature is seen on some other noctuids, but usually much larger species. The hindwings are grey or buff, darker towards the termen, and marked with dark veins.
Forewing grey, dark speckled:costa black-spotted: claviform stigma small: orbicular round, pale, sometimes whitish: reniform large, the lower lobe dark grey, all three finely black-edged; veins towards termen finely black; hindwing dull whitish, with abroad border and the veins fuscous. — saucia Esp. is the form showing a tendency to an ochreous tint; - in ab. farkasii Tr. the forewing is more variegated, light and dark, the larger pale orbicular stigma and a pale patch obliquely below it forming a prominent streak; — indistincta Tutt has a uniform dull appearance, without speckling; — albifusa Walk. [now subspecies A. t. albifusa (Walker, 1857) Nova Scotia], described originally from a N. American specimen, but probably a rare general aberration, has occurred at Portland, on the chalky South coast of England: it is grey with a yellowish gloss, with a pale band as in farkasii, joined by a second pale oblique band from apex. - Larva varying from green to brown, thickly dark-dotted; dorsal line fine, pale, subdorsal lines broader, all black-edged; spiracular stripe broad, yellow varied with reddish. [1]
One or two broods are produced each year, and adults can be seen at any time from May to September. This species flies at night and is attracted to light as well as to sugar and nectar-rich flowers.
Flight from June to first half of July. Second generation from latter half of July to September. [2] [ clarification needed ]
The larvae feed on a wide range of plants (see list below). The species overwinters as pupae.
See reference. [3]
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 flame shoulder is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1761. It is distributed throughout the Palearctic from Ireland in the west to Siberia then Korea and Japan in the east.
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 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.
The straw underwing is a moth of 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.
Mythimna albipuncta, the white-point, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775. It is distributed throughout Europe and one subspecies is found in Tunisia. It is also found in Asia Minor, Armenia, and Iran, and the northeastern United States.
The Treble Lines(Charanyca trigrammica) is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found virtually throughout Europe.In addition, there are occurrences in Asia minor and the Caucasus.In the mountains it rises to altitudes of 1000 metres.
Globia sparganii, or Webb's wainscot, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper in 1790. It is found in Europe, Central Asia, from southern Siberia to Manchuria, Korea, Turkey, Syria and Iran.
The Sprawler(Asteroscopus sphinx) is a moth of the family Noctuoidea. It is found throughout western Europe, but is mainly a Northern species occurring South to Northern Spain the southern edge of the Alps, Central Italy and Northern Greece. North to southern Sweden. East to Kaliningrad and Moscow. Also in Central Europe, Turkey, the Caucasus and Asia Minor.
Mormo maura, the old lady or black underwing, is a species of moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae. It is found in the Palearctic realm, from north-western Africa through all over southern Europe. It reaches its northern border in the west in northern Ireland and central Scotland, in central Europe, in northern Germany and Poland. In some Nordic countries, there are single finds. The other occurrence areas include Turkestan, Anatolia, the Middle East and Iraq. The name "old lady" refers to the fact that the wing pattern was said to resemble the shawls worn by elderly Victorian ladies.
Fissipunctia ypsillon, the dingy shears, is a species of moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in the Palearctic realm.
The Early Grey(Xylocampa areola) is a species of moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in Europe and Morocco.
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.
Lacanobia contigua, the beautiful brocade, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775. It is found throughout temperate regions of the Palearctic realm, from Ireland east to Siberia and Japan.
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.
Celaena haworthii, or Haworth's minor, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by John Curtis in 1829. It is found from the British Isles and France through northern Europe including Scandinavia, east to the Urals and across the Palearctic to Siberia and up to the Pacific Ocean.
Lithomoia solidaginis, the golden-rod brindle, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1803. It is found in most of Europe, except the Iberian Peninsula, Ireland, Iceland and the western and southern part of the Balkan Peninsula. Then eastwards to the Urals, Kamchatka and Japan.In the Alps it rises to about 1500 meters. It is found mainly on marshy ground, in humid mixed forests as well as in tundra - and taiga areas.
Condica capensis is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found across Africa, the Indian sub-continent and South-East Asia. In Europe, it is only common in southern Spain, but can be found further north.
Elaphria venustula is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in most of Europe, except the north. In the east, the range extends through the Palearctic to the Pacific Ocean.
The Beautiful Gothic(Leucochlaena oditis) is a Palearctic moth of the family Noctuidae, sub-family Cuculliinae. It is found in southern Europe and north Africa, with occasional finds on the southern coast of England.
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