The small square-spot (''Diarsia rubi'') is a
moth 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
Karl Friedrich Vieweg
Karl Friedrich Vieweg (also Carl; ; ) was a German entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera
In 1790 Vieweg, a Prussian, published ''Tabellarisches Verzeichniss der in der Churmark Brandenburg einheimischen Schmetterlinge''. Zweytes Heft. Mi ...
in 1790. It is found in Europe apart from the far south-east then east through the
Caucasus,
Transcaucasia,
Central Asia,
Siberia, the
Russian Far East and
Kamchatka.
Description
This is a quite a small species (
wingspan 30–38 mm) with dull greyish-pink forewings, varying to red brown, marked with a pale angular mark which gives the species its common name. Forewing with the crosslines and shades olive; the cell brown; reniform with whitish outline; claviform with a dark speck at its end; marginal area dark. The hindwings are pale luteous grey with a pink fringe.
Biology
Two broods are produced each year with the adults flying in May and June and again in August and September. Moths of the second brood are usually smaller and darker than those of the first. The species flies at night and is attracted to light and sugar. It will also visit
flowers such as
heather and
ragwort.
The
larva feeds on a variety of plants: Recorded food plants include
raspberry
The raspberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the rose family, most of which are in the subgenus '' Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Raspberries are perennial with w ...
, ''
Vaccinium'' and
willow. The species overwinters as a larva.
Similar species
''Diarsia rubi'' is difficult to certainly distinguish from its congeners. See Townsend et al.
[Martin C. Townsend, Jon Clifton and Brian Goodey (2010)]
''British and Irish Moths: An Illustrated Guide to Selected Difficult Species''
(covering the use of genitalia characters and other features) Butterfly Conservation.
*''
Protolampra sobrina
''Protolampra sobrina'', the cousin german, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Philogène Auguste Joseph Duponchel in 1843. It is found in most of Europe, then east across the Palearctic to Siberia, Altai, Irk ...
'' (Duponchel, 1843)
*''
Diarsia mendica'' ssp. ''mendica'' (Fabricius, 1775)
*''
Diarsia mendica'' ssp. ''thulei'' (Staudinger, 1891)
*''
Diarsia mendica'' ssp. ''orkneyensis'' (Bytinski-Salz, 1930)
*''
Diarsia florida
''Diarsia florida'', the fen square-spot, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Schmidt in 1859. It is found from western Europe, Denmark, southern Norway and southern Sweden, east to Romania and Siberia. Subspecie ...
'' (Schmidt, 1859)
References
*
Chinery, Michael (1986, reprinted 1991). ''Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe''.
*
Skinner, Bernard (1984). ''
The Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles
''The Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles (Macrolepidoptera)'' by Bernard Skinner is a single volume identification guide to the macromoths of Britain and Ireland published by Viking Books, often referred by moth recorders ...
''.
External links
*
*
''Lepiforum e.V.''
Diarsia
Moths described in 1790
Moths of Asia
Moths of Europe
Taxa named by Karl Friedrich Vieweg
{{Noctuinae-stub