The mouse moth (''Amphipyra tragopoginis'') is a
moth
Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...
of the family
Noctuidae. It is a widespread species with a
Holarctic
The Holarctic realm is a biogeographic realm that comprises the majority of habitats found throughout the continents in the Northern Hemisphere. It corresponds to the floristic Boreal Kingdom. It includes both the Nearctic zoogeographical reg ...
distribution.
Distribution
Europe (except the extreme north, and not occurring in the south of Spain, Sicily, or the Balkans); also in
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...
,
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
,
Syria,
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
,
Western Siberia
Western Siberia or West Siberia (russian: Западная Сибирь, Zapadnaya Sibir'; kk, Батыс Сібір) is a part of the larger region of Siberia that is mostly located in the Russian Federation. It lies between the Ural region an ...
,
Kashmir (extending thence into
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...
). Recently introduced in Canada and North America.
This is a rather drab but distinctive species. The forewings are uniform dark brown with three blackish spots arranged in a triangle. The hindwings are buffish, darker towards the margins. The
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 o ...
is 32–40 mm. The common name derives from the species' habit of scuttling away on foot when disturbed rather than flying. Despite this, it can fly strongly and is attracted to light, sugar and
nectar-rich
flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...
s. In the
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...
, the adult is active from July to September.
Description
Forewing dull brown, dusted with paler scales, varying from pale to blackish brown; submarginal line only visible, indicated by a paler tinge preceded by a darker shade; orbicular stigma a blackish dot; reniform represented by two, one above the other, at end of cell; hindwing rufous fuscous, paler towards base; — ''turcomana'' Stgr. is pale ashy grey, with no trace of submarginal line, and the stigmata very faint and more or less obsolete; the hindwing also much paler, dull whitish, becoming grey towards termen; (this central Asiatic form is probably a good species: the forewing has the apex more decidedly prominent
'A._t.''__subspecies_''turcomana''_Staudinger,_1888.html" ;"title="subspecies.html" ;"title="'A. t.'' subspecies">'A. t.'' subspecies ''turcomana'' Staudinger, 1888">subspecies.html" ;"title="'A. t.'' subspecies">'A. t.'' subspecies ''turcomana'' Staudinger, 1888; — the blacker forms are separated as ab. ''nigrescens'' Spul.
The larva is green dorsal and subdorsal lines yellowish or white lines and feeds on a wide variety of plants. The species overwinters as an egg (biology), egg.
Ecology
Recorded food plants of the mouse moth include
monkshood
''Aconitum'' (), also known as aconite, monkshood, wolf's-bane, leopard's bane, mousebane, women's bane, devil's helmet, queen of poisons, or blue rocket, is a genus of over 250 species of flowering plants belonging to the family Ranunculaceae. ...
,
chervil
Chervil (; ''Anthriscus cerefolium''), sometimes called French parsley or garden chervil (to distinguish it from similar plants also called chervil), is a delicate annual herb related to parsley. It was formerly called myrhis due to its volati ...
,
dogbane
Dogbane, dog-bane, dog's bane, and other variations, some of them regional and some transient, are names for certain plants that are reputed to kill or repel dogs; "bane" originally meant "slayer", and was later applied to plants to indicate tha ...
,
columbine,
wormwood,
bellflower,
eastern redbud
''Cercis canadensis'', the eastern redbud, is a large deciduous shrub or small tree, native to eastern North America from southern Michigan south to central Mexico, east to New Jersey. Species thrive as far west as California and as far north as ...
,
hawthorn
Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to:
Plants
* '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae
* ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...
,
fireweed
''Chamaenerion angustifolium'' is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the willowherb family Onagraceae. It is known in North America as fireweed, in some parts of Canada as great willowherb, in Britain and Ireland as rosebay willowherb. ...
,
fennel
Fennel (''Foeniculum vulgare'') is a flowering plant species in the carrot family. It is a hardy, perennial herb with yellow flowers and feathery leaves. It is indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean but has become widely naturalized ...
,
strawberry,
bedstraw,
geranium,
Scots lovage,
toadflax Toadflax is the common name of several related genera of plants in the family Plantaginaceae, including:
* ''Anarrhinum''
* ''Antirrhinum'', also called Snapdragon
* ''Chaenorhinum'', native to Turkey and the Mediterranean
* ''Cymbalaria''
* ''Lina ...
,
cow-wheat
''Melampyrum'' is a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Orobanchaceae known commonly as cow wheat. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. They are parasite, hemiparasites on other plan ...
,
monkeyflower,
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
,
parsley,
plantain
Plantain may refer to:
Plants and fruits
* Cooking banana, banana cultivars in the genus ''Musa'' whose fruits are generally used in cooking
** True plantains, a group of cultivars of the genus ''Musa''
* ''Plantaginaceae'', a family of flowerin ...
,
poplar, ''
Prunus
''Prunus'' is a genus of trees and shrubs, which includes (among many others) the fruits plums, Cherry, cherries, peaches, Peach#Nectarine, nectarines, apricots, and almonds.
Native to the North American temperate regions, the neotropics of Sou ...
'',
oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
,
redcurrant,
rose
A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...
,
cloudberry
''Rubus chamaemorus'' is a species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae, native to cool temperate regions, alpine and arctic tundra and boreal forest. This herbaceous perennial produces amber-colored edible fruit similar to the blackbe ...
,
sorrel
Sorrel (''Rumex acetosa''), also called common sorrel or garden sorrel, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Polygonaceae. Other names for sorrel include spinach dock and narrow-leaved dock ('dock' being a common name for the genus '' ...
,
willow
Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...
,
salad burnet
''Sanguisorba minor'', the salad burnet, garden burnet, small burnet, burnet (also used for ''Sanguisorba'' generally), pimpernelle, Toper's plant, and burnet-bloodwort, is an edible perennial herbaceous plant in the family Rosaceae. It has ...
,
nettle
{{redirect, Nettle
Nettle refers to plants with stinging hairs, particularly those of the genus '' Urtica''. It can also refer to plants which resemble ''Urtica'' species in appearance but do not have stinging hairs. Plants called "nettle" includ ...
,
indica, and
grape
A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus '' Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters.
The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years a ...
.
[Robinson, G. S., et al. 2010]
HOSTS – A Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants.
Natural History Museum, London.
References
* Chinery, M. ''Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe''. 1986. Reprinted 1991.
* Skinner, B. ''Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles''. 1984
External links
Mouse Moth on UKmoths
Taxonomy.
Fauna EuropaeaLepiforum.de
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1258034
Amphipyrinae
Moths described in 1759
Moths of Asia
Moths of North America
Moths of Europe
Moths of the Middle East
Taxa named by Carl Alexander Clerck