''Protodeltote pygarga'', the marbled white spot, is a species of 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 ...

. It is found in the Palearctic realm.

Distribution

It is found throughout Europe including Scandinavia. In the east the range over Asia minor, northern Iran, Afghanistan, southern Siberia, Central Asia,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

then to Sakhalin, Korea,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and Taiwan. In the south in the countries bordering the Mediterranean including some islands. It is found up to 1000 m in the Alps.

Description

The wingspan is 20–26 mm. Forewing white, suffused with fuscous and black; inner and outer lines double, blackish; the inner filled in with grey and obscure; the outer with white, strongly excurved beyond cell; stigmata grey, with paler outlines; the orbicular round, the reniform kidney shaped; separated by black scaling, which also follows the reniform; claviform grey brown, edged with white at end, and followed by black scaling; submarginal line pale, preceded by dark shading which thins out towards inner margin; the space beyond outer line in lower half of wing more or less white; hindwing fuscous: the fringe whitish; - in the form ''albilinea'' Haw. the dark shading before submarginal line is so strongly developed to inner margin that the white space beyond outer line is reduced to a narrow line from costa to inner margin; in ''albomarginata'' Spul., owing to the scanty development of the shading the white reaches costa as a broad band; - in the form ''gueneei'' Fallou, from south-west France, the wing is suffused with rufous, or, as Fallou called it, nut brown.Seitz, A. Ed., 1914 ''Die Großschmetterlinge der Erde'', Verlag Alfred Kernen, Stuttgart Band 3: Abt. 1, Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen eulenartigen Nachtfalter, 1914

Biology

The moth flies from May to July depending on the location. They prefer moderately moist to dry forest clearings, cut forest, forest fringes, and bush areas. These range from pure hardwood forests to mixed to pure coniferous forests. Also in more open habitats: semi-dry turf, abandoned vineyards, hillsides, quarries and gravel pits. Larvae are green when young, later yellowish with broad reddish dorsal stripe and several fine reddish lateral lines. They feed on various grasses and can be double brooded in the south.

Parasites

The larvae are attached by the tachinid

fly Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwing ...

'' Ceromya silacea''.

References

External links

Marbled white spot at UKMothsFauna EuropaeaLepiforum.de
Acontiinae Moths described in 1766 Moths of Asia Moths of Europe Moths of Japan Taxa named by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel {{Acontiinae-stub