''Spilosoma urticae'', the water ermine, 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

Erebidae The Erebidae are a family of moths in the superfamily Noctuoidea. The family is among the largest families of moths by species count and contains a wide variety of well-known macromoth groups. The family includes the underwings ('' Catocala'') ...

. It is found in temperate belt of the

Palearctic realm The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

like similar '' Spilosoma lubricipedum'', but prefers drier biotopes. So, ''S. urticae'' is more abundant in

steppes In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grasslands, ...

and it is the single ''Spilosoma'' species in

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

. 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 of ...

is 38–46 mm. The length of the forewings is 18–22 mm. Hindwings always without black dots. Antennae branches are very short in males, they are equal and not more than twice longer than the antenna stem diameter (this is the best distinguishing character from ''

Spilosoma lubricipeda ''Spilosoma lubricipeda'', the white ermine, is a moth of the family Erebidae. It is found throughout the temperate belt of Eurasia from Europe through Kazakhstan and southern Siberia to Amur Region, China, Korea and Japan. In China several sibli ...

''). The moth flies April to October depending on the location. The larvae feed on ''

Rumex hydrolapathum ''Rumex hydrolapathum'', the great water dock, water dock, or giant water dock, is a species of perennial herbaceous plants in the genus ''Rumex'' native to fens and freshwater banks of Europe and Western Asia. It is the tallest species in the g ...

'', ''

Mentha aquatica ''Mentha aquatica'' (water mint; syn. ''Mentha hirsuta'' Huds.Euro+Med Plantbase Project''Mentha aquatica'') is a perennial flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae. It grows in moist places and is native to much of Europe, northwest Africa ...

'', ''

Iris pseudacorus ''Iris pseudacorus'', the yellow flag, yellow iris, or water flag, is a species of flowering plant in the family Iridaceae. It is native to Europe, western Asia and northwest Africa. Its specific epithet ''pseudacorus'' means "false acorus", re ...

'', ''

Lysimachia vulgaris ''Lysimachia vulgaris'', the yellow loosestrife or garden loosestrife, is a species of herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Primulaceae. It was transferred to Myrsinoideae based on results of molecular phylogenetic research bef ...

'', ''

Jacobaea vulgaris ''Jacobaea vulgaris'', syn. ''Senecio jacobaea'', is a very common wild flower in the family Asteraceae that is native to northern Eurasia, usually in dry, open places, and has also been widely distributed as a weed elsewhere. Common names inc ...

'' and ''

Pedicularis sylvatica ''Pedicularis sylvatica'', commonly known as common lousewort, is a plant species in the genus ''Pedicularis''. It is native to central and northern Europe where it grows on moist acidic soils, moorland, grassy heathland and the drier parts of ma ...

''.

External links

Water ermine on UKMothsFauna EuropaeaBOLD SystemsEncyclopedia of Life
*
Biodiversity Heritage Library"''Spilosoma urticae'' (Esper, 1789)"
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms'' (funet)
Vlindernet.nl
urticae Palearctic Lepidoptera Moths described in 1789 Taxa named by Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper {{Spilosoma-stub