''Diachrysia chryson'', the scarce burnished brass, 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 The Noctuidae, commonly known as owlet moths, cutworms or armyworms, are a family of moths. They are considered the most controversial family in the superfamily Noctuoidea because many of the clades are constantly changing, along with the other f ...

. The species was first described by

Eugen Johann Christoph Esper Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper (2 June 1742 – 27 July 1810) was a German zoologist and naturalist. Born in Wunsiedel in Bavaria, he was professor of zoology at Erlangen university. Life and work Eugen and his brother Friedrich were intro ...

in 1789. It is found in central and southern Europe (including the southern part of 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, ...

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 ...

across the

Palearctic 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 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Technical description and variation

''P.chryson'' Esp. Forewing brownish fuscous tinged with purple: lines dark brown, inconspicuous; inner line waved, oblique inwards; median line visible only at costa; a large subquadrate shining brassy blotch beyond cell between veins 7 and 3, the space between it and inner margin suffused with deep golden brown, both traversed by the fine outer line, which becomes lustrous towards inner margin ; submarginal line very obscure, waved, limiting the brassy and brown patches; hindwing pale bronzy fuscous, darker towards termen. Larva green; dorsal line darker green, white-edged; some oblique whitish lateral stripes; spiracles white. Warren. W. in 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 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 44–54 mm.

Biology

The moth flies from July to August depending on the location. The larvae feed on ''

Eupatorium cannabinum ''Eupatorium cannabinum'', commonly known as hemp-agrimony, or holy rope, is a herbaceous plant in the family Asteraceae. It is a robust Perennial plant, perennial native to many areas of Europe. The alkaloids may be present in the plant material ...

''.

Subspecies

There are three recognised subspecies: *''Diachrysia chryson chryson'' *''Diachrysia chryson pales'' *''Diachrysia chryson deltaica''

References

External links

*
''Fauna Europaea''''Lepiforum e.V.''''Schmetterlinge-Deutschlands.de''''De Vlinderstichting''
Plusiinae Moths of Japan Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Moths described in 1789 Taxa named by Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper {{Plusiinae-stub