The northern deep-brown dart (''Aporophyla lueneburgensis'') 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. It was first described by

Christian Friedrich Freyer Christian Friedrich Freyer (25 August 1794, Wassertrüdingen – 11 November 1885, Augsburg) was a German entomologist mainly interested in Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order of insects that includes butterflies and moths (both are cal ...

in 1848 and it is found in northern and western

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. As the common name suggests, this species usually has very dark brown to purplish grey forewings, although paler grey forms exist. There is always a much darker central band, almost black in the darker forms. All the lines and stigmata are very neatly marked and edged with paler. By contrast, the hindwings are much paler, often almost pure white in the male but usually with darker venation. 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 o ...

is 36–41 mm. It is a decidedly smaller and neater insect than '' Aporophyla lutulenta''. It flies at night in August and September and is attracted to light and sugar as well as various

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. 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. ...

usually feeds on heather but has been recorded on other low plants such as bird's-foot trefoil. This species overwinters as a small larva.

Taxonomy

''Aporophyla lueneburgensis'' may be a subspecies of '' Aporophyla lutulenta''. #''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.''

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.''
Aporophyla Moths described in 1848 Moths of Europe Taxa named by Christian Friedrich Freyer {{cuculliinae-stub