''Coranarta cordigera'', the small dark yellow underwing, 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

Carl Peter Thunberg Carl Peter Thunberg, also known as Karl Peter von Thunberg, Carl Pehr Thunberg, or Carl Per Thunberg (11 November 1743 – 8 August 1828), was a Swedish naturalist and an "apostle" of Carl Linnaeus. After studying under Linnaeus at Uppsala Un ...

in 1788. It can be found in parts of Europe, mainly in the north. In central and southern Europe it is only found in mountainous areas. In the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

for instance, it is found up to elevations of 2,200 meters.

Description

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 21–26 mm. Forewing blackish, dusted with pale grey scales especially in basal and marginal areas, the median being darker, or even black; inner and outer lines deep black; reniform stigma large and white with a grey lunule in it ; orbicular small, grey and obscure; hindwing yellow with a broad black marginal border, the costal margin grey; ab. ''variegata'' Tutt is a rare form, in which the dark median area is traversed by a grey band between the stigmata, the space between outer and submarginal line filled in with black to form a fascia, and another following the basal line; — in ''suffusa'' Tutt the whole wing is black except the pale marginal area and the white reniform; — ''aethiops'' Hofm. has the entire wing black except the stigma; — while ''carbonaria'' Christ, from Siberia resembles aethiops above, but the underside of forewing is yellow with the marginal areas dark. — Larva purplish-red : dorsal line pale yellow, with dark oblique streaks beyond segment 4, meeting on the dorsum; subdorsal lines obscurely paler; spiracular line yellow with a black upper edge; spiracles yellow, each accompanied by a yellow blotch; sometimes the larva is wholly blackish, with the markings all obscured. 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

The caterpillars feed on ''

Vaccinium uliginosum ''Vaccinium uliginosum'' (bog bilberry, bog blueberry, northern bilberry or western blueberry) is a Eurasian and North American flowering plant in the genus ''Vaccinium'' within the heath family. Distribution ''Vaccinium uliginosum'' is native ...

'' and ''

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi ''Arctostaphylos uva-ursi'' is a plant species of the genus ''Arctostaphylos'' widely distributed across Circumboreal Region, circumboreal regions of the subarctic Northern Hemisphere. Kinnikinnick (First Nations in Canada, First Nations for "smo ...

''. The flight period is April to May -later at high altitudes.

References

External links

*
"09908 ''Coranarta cordigera'' (Thunberg, 1788) - Moor-Bunteule"
''Lepiforum e.V.''
''Schmetterlinge-Deutschlands.de''
Hadeninae Moths of Europe Taxa named by Carl Peter Thunberg Moths described in 1788 {{Hadenini-stub