The sandhill rustic (''Luperina nickerlii'') is a noctuid moth found in various parts of western, southern and central Europe with several

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

. The species was first described by Christian Friedrich Freyer in 1845.

Technical description and variation

It is like ''

Luperina testacea ''Luperina testacea'', the flounced rustic, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in Europe, Asia Minor and Armenia. Technical description and variation The wingspan is 30–35 mm. The length of the forewings is 14–18 mm." ...

'', but olive grey, without any rufous tinge; inner and outer lines conversely edged with whitish; a blackish shade before inner line from median vein to inner margin, interrupted at vein 1; claviform stigma broadly blackish; orbicular a minute white spot; reniform subquadrate, with fuscous centre and broad white annulus, the area beyond it blackish, submarginal line whiter, preceded, except between veins 6 and 7, by a blackish shade; a row of neat black marginal lunules; fringe dark grey pencilled with light grey; hindwing pure white, with dark marginal lunules and white fringe; the veins dark. Certain separation requires examination of the genitalia.

The sandhill rustic in Britain

In Britain, it flies in one generation between late July and late September and is represented by three

Subspecies ''demuthi''

Found on the coasts of Kent, Essex and

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

Subspecies ''gueneei''

Found in coastal sandhills in North Wales and Lancashire

Subspecies ''leechi''

Subspecies ''leechi'', is found on Loe Bar, Cornwall, the shingle beach which separates

Loe Pool The Loe ( kw, An Logh), also known as Loe Pool, is the largest natural freshwater lake () in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The earliest recorded appearance of this simple name form was in 1337, when it was called "La Loo", but is mentioned as 'the ...

from the sea. Two pupae, found in the sand, by Barry Goater and Michael Leech in September 1974 was the first sign of this previously unknown subspecies. The female moth is reluctant to fly and rarely appears at light; behaviour that has presumably evolved as an adaptation to its windswept habitat. With only one known population ssp. ''leechi'' is a Biodiversity Action Plan species, is listed in the Red Data Book and a species account is given in the Cornish RDB.

Biology

The

larvae 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. The ...

feed on the stem and roots of sand couch (''Elytrigia juncea'') from September to the following July.

The sandhill rustic in Ireland

In Ireland, the sandhill rustic is represented by the subspecies ''knilli'', which occurs only in

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

References

External links

* * Taxonomy
''Fauna Europaea''Site dedicated to the sandhill rusticArkive page on the sandhill rustic''Lepiforum e.V.''
{{Taxonbar , from=Q7354987 Luperina Moths described in 1845 Environment of Cornwall Moths of Europe Taxa named by Christian Friedrich Freyer