''Arctornis l-nigrum'', the black V moth, 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

Erebidae The Erebidae are a family of moths in the superfamily Noctuoidea. The family is among the largest families of moths by species count and contains a wide variety of well-known macromoth groups. The family includes the underwings ('' Catocala'') ...

. The species was described by

Otto Friedrich Müller Otto Friedrich Müller, also known as Otto Friedrich Mueller (2 November 1730 – 26 December 1784) was a Danish naturalist and scientific illustrator. Biography Müller was born in Copenhagen. He was educated for the church, became tutor to a yo ...

in 1764. It is found in the

Palearctic realm The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

and Asia. 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 of ...

is 35–45 mm. The moth flies from May to July. The

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

s feed on

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

and

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...

. Arctornis l-nigrum MHNT.CUT.2012.0.356. Les Mathes. Female..jpg , Female Arctornis l-nigrum MHNT.CUT.2012.0.356.Crest-Voland. Male..jpg, Male

Subspecies

*''Arctornis l-nigrum l-nigrum'' *''Arctornis l-nigrum asahinai'' (Inoue, 1956) (Japan) *''Arctornis l-nigrum okurai'' (Okano, 1959) (Taiwan) *''Arctornis l-nigrum ussurica'' Bytinski-Salz, 1939 (Ussuri)

External links

Black V Moth at UKMothsFauna EuropaeaLepiforum.de
Lymantriinae Moths of Asia Moths of Europe Moths described in 1764 Taxa named by Otto Friedrich Müller {{Lymantriinae-stub