Lithophane ornitopus
Lithophane ornitopus, the grey shoulder-knot, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel in 1766. It is found in most of the Palearctic realm from Ireland east to Siberia.
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Lithophane ornitopus | |
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Species: | L. ornitopus |
Binomial name | |
Lithophane ornitopus (Hufnagel, 1766) | |
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Technical description and variation
The wingspan is 32–38 mm. Its forewings are grey white; a bifurcate black streak from base below cell; lines indistinct, pale with dotted edges; stigmata grey with partial black outlines and paler rings; the lower lobe of the reniform orange tinged; claviform sometimes connected by a black streak with outer line, and often a dark spot between the stigmata; submarginal line waved, white, preceded by dark marks; hindwing grey; the whiter forms are separated as ab. pallida Spul.[1]
Biology
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Adults are on wing from late August to November and, after overwintering, again from the end of February to mid-May. The larva are bluish green dotted with white; dorsal and subdorsal lines white; spiracular line yellowish white. The larvae feed on various deciduous trees, but mainly Quercus species.[2] Larvae can be found from April to June. It overwinters as an adult.
Subspecies
- Lithophane ornitopus ornitopus
- Lithophane ornitopus pitzalisi Hartig, 1976 (Sardinia)
References
- 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
- 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.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lithophane ornitopus. |
- Kimber, Ian. "73.202 BF2237 Grey Shoulder-knot Lithophane ornitopus (Dadd, 1911)". UKMoths. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
- Savela, Markku. "Lithophane ornitopus (Hufnagel, 1766)". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved July 3, 2019. Taxonomy
- Fauna Europaea
- Lepiforum e.V.
- De Vlinderstichting (in Dutch)