| Silver Y | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Superfamily: | Noctuoidea |
| Family: | Noctuidae |
| Genus: | Autographa |
| Species: | A. gamma |
| Binomial name | |
| Autographa gamma | |
The silver Y (Autographa gamma) is a migratory moth of the family Noctuidae which is named for the silvery Y-shaped mark on each of its forewings.
The silver Y is a medium-sized moth with a wingspan of 30 to 45 mm. The wings are intricately patterned with various shades of brown and grey providing excellent camouflage. In the centre of each forewing there is a silver-coloured mark shaped like a letter Y or a (lower case) Greek letter Gamma. There are several different forms with varying colours depending on the climate in which the larvae grow.
P. gamma Forewing purplish grey, with darker suffusion in places; the lines pale silvery edged on both sides with dark fuscous, the outer line indented on vein 2 and submedian fold, as in circumflexa; the oblique orbicular and the reniform conversely oblique and constricted in middle, both edged with silvery: the median area below middle blackish, containing a silvery gamma; the subterminal dentate and indented, preceded by a darker shade; hindwing brownish grey with darker veins and a broad blackish terminal border: aberrations due to difference in ground colour are ab. pallida Tutt, in which the ground colour is whitish grey, with the markings appearing darker and more sharply defined; ab. rufescens Tutt where it is yellowish red, with the gamma mark pale golden, also the lines and edges of stigmata, and the whole underside reddish: and ab. nigricans Spul., in which the whole forewing up to the pale terminal space is violet black brown; in the ab. purpurissa ab. nov. (65a) the ground colour is deep olive brown; the inner and outer lines violet, the latter double; subterminal line lustrous violet, irregularly waved and below the middle forming a strong W-shaped mark; the gamma mark is pale golden, and the edges of the dark stigmata are, like the inner line, finely lustrous; a pale violet terminal stripe before termen; hindwing bronzy brownish, with broad dark terminal border. The example from which this description was made, now in the Tring Museum, was taken in Sussex, on the South Coast of England, and is referred to by Tutt in British Noctuae, Vol. IV, p. 32; lastly, the form gammina Stgr., from Syria and Pontus, is only half as large as typical gamma, with more definitely marked forewings. Larva pale green, with fine whitish or yellowish, partly double, lines; a straight yellowish lateral line above the white black-ringed spiracles. [1]
The species is widespread across Europe and over almost all the Palearctic including North Africa. It is resident in the south of its range and adults fly almost throughout the year[ citation needed ]. In spring variable numbers migrate north reaching as far as Iceland, Greenland, and Finland with huge invasions taking place in some years[ citation needed ]. A second wave of migrants arrives in the summer[ citation needed ]. In central Europe and the British Isles adults are present in significant numbers from May onwards with numbers dwindling in late autumn as they are killed off by frosts[ citation needed ]. Some individuals fly south again to winter around the Mediterranean and Black seas. [2] [3]
It occurs in a wide variety of habitats, particularly open areas. It regularly visits gardens to take nectar from the flowers.
Silver Y moths can produce two or three generations in a year with a fourth generation when conditions are particularly good. The eggs are laid on the upper or lower surface of leaves. They are whitish in colour and hemispherical in shape with deep ribbing. They hatch after three to four days (longer in cool conditions).
The larvae are about 30 mm long, have three pairs of prolegs and are usually green with whitish markings. They feed on a wide variety of low-growing plants and have been recorded on over 200 different species including crops such as the garden pea (Pisum sativum), sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) and cabbage (Brassica oleracea). [4] They can reduce crop yields by damaging leaves and are often considered to be a pest.
The pupa is green at first, gradually darkening to black. The adults mate one or two days after emerging from the pupa and start laying eggs one to five days later. They die three to nineteen days after emergence.
The red underwing is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1767 12th edition of Systema Naturae.
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 nutmeg, also known as the clover cutworm, is a moth of the family Noctuidae.
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 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.
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.
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.
Autographa pulchrina is a moth of the family Noctuoidea. It is found in Europe East to the Urals and the Caucasus.Also in the Khentii Mountains (Mongolia) and East Siberia.
Luperina testacea, the flounced rustic, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in Europe, Asia Minor and Armenia.
Hydraecia micacea, the rosy rustic, is a moth of the family Noctuoidea. It is found across the Palearctic realm from Ireland to Siberia. It reaches Japan and is introduced to eastern USA, Quebec and Ottawa.
Helotropha leucostigma, the crescent, formerly Celaena leucostigma is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in the Palearctic realm.
Autographa jota, commonly known as plain golden Y, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The nominate form is found in Europe. while the subspecies Autographa jota anatolica is found in the southern Balkans, south-western Asia, Turkey, the Caucasus, and north-western Iran.
Syngrapha interrogationis, the scarce silver Y, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in northern part of the world including Alaska, Canada, Iceland, Europe, Siberia, the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, and Northeast Asia.
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.
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.
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.
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