The grey chi (; ''Antitype chi'') 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 species was first described by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his Nobility#Ennoblement, ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalise ...

in his 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. It is distributed throughout Europe, although it is not present in southern

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

, as well as northern Fennoscandia. It is also found across the Palearctic including

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

, to the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admin ...

but not in Japan. Antitype chi - front (aka)

This species has grey forewings speckled with black markings which vary in intensity (with the female generally more heavily marked than the male). There is usually a bold cross-shaped black mark in the centre of the wing which has been likened to the Greek letter chi (Χ) and gives the species its common name. The hindwings are white in the male, dirty grey in the female.

Technical description and variation

''A. chi'' L. (33 i, 34 a). Forewing chalk white, grey-speckled; the lines double, grey; median area darker, the stigmata pale grey and conspicuous; the claviform at extremity edged with black and joined by a black dash to the inner blacker arm of outer line; submarginal line formed of whitish spots preceded by black wedge shaped marks; hindwing of male white with interrupted grey submarginal band; of female blackish grey, with darker cellspot, veins, and outer line; the females are always darker grey than the males; — ''olivacea'' Stph. (34 a) from Scotland is suffused throughout with olive grey; — ''subcaerulea'' Graes., from N. E. Amurland, is dark bluish grey in the forewing;- ''suitusa'' Robson is a dark grey form from the North of England, of which the males are equally dark with the females an extreme local development of this form from the neighbourhood of Huddersfield, Yorkshire, ab. ''nigrescens'' Tutt is nearly black; ab. ''langei'' Harrison (34 a) is like ''olivacea'' but the submarginal line is absent, and the black marks preceding it wholly or nearly obsolete. Larva green, finely dotted with yellow; dorsal and subdorsal lines whitish; spiracular line yellowish white, diffusely dark green above .

Biology

This moth flies at night in August and September and is attracted to light and sugar. The

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. ...

feeds on the leaves and

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s of a variety of

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclu ...

s (see list below). The species overwinters as an

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

. #''The flight season refers to 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, ...

. This may vary in other parts of the range.''

Subspecies

*''Antitype chi chi'' *''Antitype chi subcaerulea'' (Graeser, 1889) (

)

Recorded food plants

* ''Artemisia'' -

mugwort Mugwort is a common name for several species of aromatic flowering plants in the genus '' Artemisia.'' In Europe, mugwort most often refers to the species ''Artemisia vulgaris'', or common mugwort. In East Asia the species ''Artemisia argyi'' is ...

* '' Convallaria'' - lily-of-the-valley * ''Helianthus'' -

Jerusalem artichoke The Jerusalem artichoke (''Helianthus tuberosus''), also called sunroot, sunchoke, wild sunflower, topinambur, or earth apple, is a species of sunflower native to central North America. It is cultivated widely across the temperate zone for its ...

* ''Lactuca'' -

lettuce Lettuce (''Lactuca sativa'') is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable, but sometimes for its stem and seeds. Lettuce is most often used for salads, although it is also seen in other kinds of food, ...

* ''Lathyrus'' - meadow vetchling * ''

Lychnis ''Silene'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. Containing nearly 900 species, it is the largest genus in the family. Common names include campion and catchfly. Many ''Silene'' species are widely distributed, particularl ...

'' - campion * ''Ribes'' - blackcurrant * '' Rumex'' * ''Salix'' -

willow 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 ...

* ''Saxifraga'' -

saxifrage ''Saxifraga'' is the largest genus in the family Saxifragaceae, containing about 465 species of holarctic perennial plants, known as saxifrages or rockfoils. The Latin word ''saxifraga'' means literally "stone-breaker", from Latin ' ("rock" or " ...

* ''

Sedum ''Sedum'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Crassulaceae, members of which are commonly known as stonecrops. The genus has been described as containing up to 600 species, subsequently reduced to 400–500. They are leaf succul ...

'' - stonecrop * ''

Silene ''Silene'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. Containing nearly 900 species, it is the largest genus in the family. Common names include campion and catchfly. Many ''Silene'' species are widely distributed, particularl ...

'' - campion * '' Sonchus'' - sow thistle * ''Taraxacum'' -

dandelion ''Taraxacum'' () is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, which consists of species commonly known as dandelions. The scientific and hobby study of the genus is known as taraxacology. The genus is native to Eurasia and Nor ...

* ''

Triglochin ''Triglochin'' is a plant genus in the family Juncaginaceae described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. It is very nearly cosmopolitan in distribution, with species on every continent except Antarctica. North America has four accepted species, two of wh ...

'' * ''Urtica'' -

stinging nettle ''Urtica dioica'', often known as common nettle, burn nettle, stinging nettle (although not all plants of this species sting) or nettle leaf, or just a nettle or stinger, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Urticaceae. ...

* ''Viburnum'' - guelder rose See.

References

Chinery, Michael Michael Chinery (born 1938, in London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-e ...

(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''.

External links

* * Taxonomy
''Fauna Europaea''''Lepiforum e.V.''
{{Taxonbar , from=Q665921 Antitype (moth) Moths described in 1758 Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus