Papestra biren

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Glaucous shears
Papestra biren.jpg
Papestra biren1.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Superfamily: Noctuoidea
Family: Noctuidae
Genus: Papestra
Species:
P. biren
Binomial name
Papestra biren
(Goeze, 1781)
Synonyms
  • Hadena poliostigma
  • Hadena quadriposita
  • Noctua aperta
  • Noctua glauca
  • Noctua lappo
  • Mamestra bi-ren
  • Mamestra biren
  • Mamestra glauca
  • Mamestra glauca var. taunensis
  • Mamestra glauca var. paupercula
  • Phalaena biren
  • Polia frustrata
  • Polia glauca

Papestra biren, the glaucous shears, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Johann August Ephraim Goeze in 1781. It is found in most of Europe, but not in the southern parts of the Iberian Peninsula, Italy and Greece. Outside of Europe it is found in Kashmir and through the Palearctic to Siberia, Central Asia, Amur, Kamchatka, the Russian Far East and Japan. It was introduced in Newfoundland in 1935 and has since then extended its range ever more southward within North America partly overlapping with Papestra quadrata (Smith, 1891). It rises to 2200 m above sea level in the Alps.

Contents

Technical description and variation

The wingspan is 30–38 mm. Forewing purplish grey suffused with blackish; stigmata pale grey, with whitish rims edged with black; submarginal line whitish, preceded by black dentate marks: hindwing dark brownish fuscous; the paler- or bluish-grey tint is most developed in the type form; lappo Dup. is a more ashy grey form with pale stigmata, from Lapland, Finland, and northern Ireland; aperta Geyer represents an exceptionally dark form; while taunensis Fuchs, from the Taunus Mts., is uniform dark ruddy grey, with only the external margins of the claviform and reniform pale. [1]

Habitat in the Taunus Mountains, Germany Grosser-feldberg-taunus015.jpg
Habitat in the Taunus Mountains, Germany
3, 3a larvae in various stages Buckler W The larvae of the British butterflies and moths PlateXCIII.jpg
3, 3a larvae in various stages

Biology

Adults are on wing from May to July in one generation.

Larva brownish red, with dark dorsal reticulation: dorsal line distinctly paler; subdorsal lines formed of dark lunules, which on the 11th segment meet in a dark patch, beyond which the 12th is yellowish; lateral lines yellowish white; spiracles white, black-edged.

The larvae mainly feed on low-growing mountain plants Vaccinium uliginosum and Vaccinium myrtillus , but have also been recorded on Salix caprea and Sorbusa ucuparia . [2]

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

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

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

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<i>Cucullia asteris</i> Species of moth

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<i>Anaplectoides prasina</i> Species of moth

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<i>Syngrapha interrogationis</i> Species of moth

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<i>Agrotis ripae</i> Species of moth

Agrotis ripae, the sand dart, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1823. It is found in western Europe and North Africa and extends east across the Palearctic to steppe areas in Russia, Mongolia and Siberia.

<i>Agrotis trux</i> Species of moth

Agrotis trux, the crescent dart, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1824. It has a circum-Mediterranean distribution and is found along the coasts of France, Ireland, England, southern Europe, Algeria, Syria, Iraq, Iran, southern Russia and the Arabian Peninsula. In Africa, it is found as far south as South Africa.

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

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

Orthosia opima, the northern drab, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1809. It is found from central and northern Europe east to central Asia. In the west and north it is found from France through Great Britain up to southern Fennoscandia, south from the Alps up to the Balkans.

<i>Hadula melanopa</i> Species of moth

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<i>Stilbia anomala</i> Species of moth

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<i>Parastichtis suspecta</i> Species of moth

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<i>Leucochlaena oditis</i> Species of moth

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

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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. 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.