''
Centaurea''
species (knapweeds, starthistles and relatives) are used as food plants by the
caterpillar
Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths).
As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...
s of a numerous
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...
species, including:
Monophagous
Species which feed exclusively on ''Centaurea''. Some are used in
biological control of knapweeds that have become
invasive weed
An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species adv ...
s.
Bucculatricidae
Bucculatricidae or (Bucculatrigidae) is a family of moths. This small family has representatives in all parts of the world. Some authors place the group as a subfamily of the family Lyonetiidae.
Adults of this family are easily overlooked, bein ...
* ''
Bucculatrix centaureae'' – only on ''
C. triniifolia''
Cochylidae
*
Sulphur knapweed moth (''Agapeta zoegana'') – recorded on
diffuse knapweed (''C. diffusa''),
spotted knapweed (''C. maculosa'') and others
Coleophoridae
* ''
Coleophora didymella'' – only on
greater knapweed (''C. scabiosa'')
Gelechiidae
*
Spotted knapweed seedhead moth (''Metzneria paucipunctella'') – recorded on spotted knapweed (''C. maculosa'') and others
Polyphagous
Feeding is the process by which organisms, typically animals, obtain food. Terminology often uses either the suffixes -vore, -vory, or -vorous from Latin ''vorare'', meaning "to devour", or -phage, -phagy, or -phagous from Greek φαγε ...
Species which feed on ''Centaurea'' and other plants
Coleophoridae
* Several ''
Coleophora'' case-bearer species:
** ''
C. alcyonipennella''
** ''
C. brevipalpella''
** ''
C. conspicuella''
** ''
C. frischella''
** ''
C. paripennella''
Crambidae
* ''
Dolicharthria punctalis''
* ''
Paratalanta hyalinalis'' – recorded on
brown knapweed (''C. jacea'')
* ''
Sitochroa verticalis'' – recorded on brown knapweed (''C. jacea'')
Geometridae
*
Common pug (''Eupithecia vulgata'') – recorded on brown knapweed (''C. jacea'') and perhaps others
*
Engrailed (''Ectropis crepuscularia'')
*
Grey pug (''Eupithecia subfuscata'') – recorded on brown knapweed (''C. jacea'') and perhaps others
*
Lime-speck pug (''Eupithecia centaureata'')
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 ...
*
Marbled clover (''Heliothis viriplaca'')
*
Hebrew character (''Orthosia gothica'') – recorded on
wig knapweed
''Centaurea phrygia'', commonly called wig knapweed, is a species of '' Centaurea''. It is native to Europe.
References
phrygia
In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; grc, Φρυγία, ''Phrygía'' ) was a kingdom in the west central pa ...
(''C. phrygia'') and perhaps others
*
Comma
The comma is a punctuation mark that appears in several variants in different languages. It has the same shape as an apostrophe or single closing quotation mark () in many typefaces, but it differs from them in being placed on the baseline ...
(''Polygonia c-album'')
Nymphalidae
*
Spotted fritillary (''Melitaea didyma'') – recorded on brown knapweed (''C. jacea'') and perhaps others
*
Knapweed fritillary (''Melitaea phoebe'') – recorded on brown knapweed (''C. jacea'') and others
Oecophoridae
* ''
Agonopterix arenella''
External links
*{{cite web , last1=Robinson , first1=Gaden S. , last2=Ackery , first2=Phillip R. , last3=Kitching , first3=Ian J. , last4=Beccaloni , first4=George W. , last5=Hernández , first5=Luis M. , name-list-style=amp , date=2010 , url=https://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/data/hostplants/search/list.dsml?&PGenus=Centaurea&sort=Family , title=Hostplant Genus: ''Centaurea'' , website=HOSTS - A Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants , publisher=
Natural History Museum, London
Centaurea
+Lepidoptera