The common swift (''Korscheltellus lupulina'') is a moth of the family Hepialidae. It was previously placed in the genus ''

Hepialus The ghost moth or ghost swift (''Hepialus humuli'') is a moth of the family Hepialidae. It is common throughout Europe, except for in the far south-east. Female ghost moths are larger than males, and exhibit sexual dimorphism with their differ ...

''. It is a common, often abundant European species. The species was described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''.

Description

The male has a wingspan of about 30 mm with dark brown forewings with white apical and basal streaks meeting to make a "V" shape with another spot close to the costa. The hindwings are plain brown. The female is larger (wingspan about 40 mm) with similar patterning to the male but generally paler and less distinct. Patterns on the moths are highly variable, ranging from whitish to grey to pale brown with the females slightly larger and less strongly marked. Some individuals of both sexes are plain buff or brown with no pattern. The moths do not have a proboscis, are unable to feed, and therefore, are not usually found at flowers. The adults fly at dusk in May and June and the females broadcast the eggs, in a hovering flight, just above the vegetation. Males have a hovering flight and are reputed to emit a goatish scent. The species overwinters as a larva. The orange swift (''Triodia sylvina'') and gold swift ('Phymatopus hecta') look similar, although the orange swift flies later in the year.

Larvae

The larvae feed underground on the roots of a wide variety of plants (see list below) and can be an agricultural

pest Pest or The Pest may refer to: Science and medicine * Pest (organism), an animal or plant deemed to be detrimental to humans or human concerns ** Weed, a plant considered undesirable * Infectious disease, an illness resulting from an infection ** ...

. They feed from July to April and when fully fed are 20 mm long with a shiny white body and brown head, prothoracic plate and pinacula. It pupates in a tunnel amongst the roots and uses the spines of the pupa to migrate to the surface, before emergance.

Recorded food plants

*''Allium'' –

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus ''Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Allium fistulosum, Welsh onion and Allium chinense, Chinese onion. It is native to South A ...

*''Apium'' - celery *'' Brassica'' *''

Chrysanthemum Chrysanthemums (), sometimes called mums or chrysanths, are flowering plants of the genus ''Chrysanthemum'' in the family Asteraceae. They are native to East Asia and northeastern Europe. Most species originate from East Asia and the center ...

'' *'' Dahlia'' *''Daucus'' –

carrot The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in color, though purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild carrot, ''Daucus carota'', nat ...

*''Fragaria'' –

strawberry The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...

*''Helianthus'' – Jerusalem artichoke *'' Humulus'' – hop *''Lactuca'' – lettuce *''Lycopersicon'' – tomato *''Medicago'' –

alfalfa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, and silage, as w ...

*''

Narcissus Narcissus may refer to: Biology * ''Narcissus'' (plant), a genus containing daffodils and others People * Narcissus (mythology), Greek mythological character * Narcissus (wrestler) (2nd century), assassin of the Roman emperor Commodus * Tiberiu ...

'' – daffodil *''Pastinaca'' – parsnip *''

Phaseolus ''Phaseolus'' (bean, wild bean) is a genus of herbaceous to woody annual and perennial vines in the family Fabaceae containing about 70 plant species, all native to the Americas, primarily Mesoamerica. It is one of the most economically importan ...

'' – bean *'' Pisum'' – pea *

Poaceae Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

– grasses *'' Ribes'' – currant *'' Rubus'' – berries *''Solanum'' – potato

Etymology

Previously placed in the genus ''

'' – from the Greek; ''hēpialos'' – meaning a fever, as in 'the fitful, alternating flight' of the moth. It has since been allocated to the genus '' Korscheltellus''. Carl Linnaeus originally gave the moth the

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''lupulinus'' in affinity with the ghost moth (''Hepialus humuli''). '' Humulus'' is the genus for hops and Linnaeus knew that the ghost moth fed on the roots of hops; he was not aware of the actual footplant of the common swift.

Notes

# ''The flight season refers to the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range.''

References

Bibliography

* * 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.''
{{Taxonbar , from=Q1615974 Hepialidae Moths described in 1758 Moths of Asia Moths of Europe Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus