''Cerastis leucographa'', the white-marked, 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

Michael Denis Johann Nepomuk Cosmas Michael Denis, also: ''Sined the Bard'', (27 September 1729 – 29 September 1800) was an Austrian Catholic priest and Jesuit, who is best known as a poet, bibliographer, and lepidopterist. Life Denis was born at Schärding ...

and

Ignaz Schiffermüller Ignaz Schiffermüller (born 2 October 1727 in Hellmonsödt; died 21 June 1806 in Linz) was an Austrian naturalist mainly interested in Lepidoptera. Schiffermüller was a teacher at the Theresianum College in Vienna. His collection was presented ...

in 1775. It is found in most of Europe, east to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, through 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 ...

up to

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 ...

Description

Forewing pale brick red; the median and narrow terminal area brown; upper stigmata prominently pale ochreous grey with dark centres; teeth of outer line very long, the veins dark beyond; hindwing dirty grey; veins and a diffuse terminal shade darker — ''lepetitii'' Bsd. is wholly red brown, without the pale submarginal band, the stigmata without pale edging; — ''suffusa'' Tutt is an extreme form in which the dark median shade is expanded to cover the whole forewing, making it deep blackish red; — ''rufa'' Tutt is pale bright red, much paler than the type. — Larva green or reddish, with darker mottling; dorsal and subdorsal lines pale; a row of dark lateral oblique stripes; spiracular line pale greenish. 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

Biology

Adults are on wing from March to June depending on the location. It occurs up to about 1500 meters altitude. It is found in different habitats, for example in mixed forest edges, clearings, bushy valleys, forest bogs and moors. There is one generation per year whose moths fly from March to May. They are dusk and nocturnal and visit artificial light sources and the bait. They suck on flowering catkins, their very early flight time runs largely parallel to the willow blossom (''Salix''). The larvae feed on ''

Vaccinium myrtillus ''Vaccinium myrtillus'' or European blueberry is a holarctic species of shrub with edible fruit of blue color, known by the common names bilberry, blaeberry, wimberry, and whortleberry. It is more precisely called common bilberry or blue whortle ...

'', ''

Prunus spinosa ''Prunus spinosa'', called blackthorn or sloe, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae. The species is native to Europe, western Asia, and regionally in northwest Africa. It is locally naturalized in New Zealand, Tasmania, ...

'' and ''

Salix 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 ...

'', ''

Rumex The docks and sorrels, genus ''Rumex'', are a genus of about 200 species of annual, biennial, and perennial herbs in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae. Members of this genus are very common perennial herbs with a native almost worldwide distribu ...

'', ''

Rhinanthus ''Rhinanthus'' is a genus of annual hemiparasitic herbaceous plants in the family Orobanchaceae, formerly classified in the family Scrophulariaceae. Its species are commonly known as rattles. The genus consists of about 30 to 40 species found in ...

'' and '' Galium'' species.

References

External links

* Taxonomy
''Lepiforum e. V.''

''Ingrids Naturseiten''.
''Schmetterlinge-Deutschlands.de''
Noctuinae Moths described in 1875 Moths of Asia Moths of Europe Moths of Japan Taxa named by Michael Denis Taxa named by Ignaz Schiffermüller {{Noctuinae-stub