''Acompsia cinerella'', the ash-coloured sober, is a small
lepidoptera
Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...
n
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of the
twirler moth
The Gelechiidae are a family of moths commonly referred to as twirler moths or gelechiid moths. They are the namesake family of the huge and little-studied superfamily Gelechioidea, and the family's taxonomy has been subject to considerable dis ...
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
(Gelechiidae). It is the
type species
In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...
of the
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
''
Acompsia
''Acompsia'' is a genus of the twirler moth family (Gelechiidae). Though it has once been assigned to the proposed subfamily "Anacampsinae" (here included in Gelechiinae), it is generally placed in the Dichomeridinae. Some authors include ''Tele ...
'', once assigned to the
subfamily
In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...
Anacampsinae but generally placed in the
Dichomeridinae. The species was
first described by
Carl Alexander Clerck in 1759.
Distribution
This species can be found in most of Europe, except for
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
and
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
.
[''Fauna Europaea'']
/ref>
Habitat
These moths inhabit a variety of areas, preferably with rich vegetation or bushes.
Description
''Acompsia cinerella'' has a wingspan
The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...
of 16–19 mm. These moths have long upwardly-curved labial palps. The forewings show a brownish colour, without any marking.
Biology
There are two generations per year, as it is a bivoltine species. Adults are on wing from May to September. The larvae feed on moss present on trunks of broad leaves trees, often at the base of the tree.[Keys to the Insects of the European Part of the USSR.: Lepidoptera. Part II]
/ref>
Bibliography
*Erstbeschreibung: Clerck, C. (1759): Icones Insectorum rariorum Cum Nominibus eorum trivialibus, locisqve e C. LinnaeiArch. R. et Eqv. Aur. Syst. Nat. allegatis. Sectio Prima: unpaginierte Textseiten pl. 1-16. Holmiae. — Digitalisat der Bibliothèque nationale de France.
*Lectotypus-Festlegung: Robinson, G. S. & E. Schmidt Nielsen (1983): The Microlepidoptera described by Linnaeus and Clerck. — Systematic Entomology 8: 191–242.
References
External links
''Lepiforum e. V.''
Acompsia
Moths described in 1759
Moths of Europe
Taxa named by Carl Alexander Clerck
{{Dichomeridinae-stub