The green-brindled dot (''Valeria oleagina'') is a species of

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 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 southern Europe and the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

, then east to Iran and Ukraine. In Germany it is found up to the

Eifel The Eifel (; lb, Äifel, ) is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Community of ...

and

Ahr Ahr () is a river in Germany, a left tributary of the Rhine. Its source is at an elevation of approximately above sea level in Blankenheim in the Eifel, in the cellar of a timber-frame house near the castle of Blankenheim. After it crosses fro ...

Technical description and variation

''V. oleagina'' F. (33 a, b). Forewing purple; the veins,, especially at termen, broadly green; lines blackish, indistinct; claviform small, obscure; orbicular round, green with a white ring; reniform large, white, with a dark speck at each end; submarginal line whitish, lunulate, preceded by purple brown contiguous lunules; fringe irongrey cut by white pencils ; hindwing white, with fuscous cellspot, outer line, submarginal band, and fringes; marginal line wavy, black. Larva brownish-grey, paler in front; the hind segments laterally with oblique pale streaks; a pair of blunt points on the 11th and 12th segments; spiracles black between two yellow lateral lines; head black with an orange yellow corslet. Warren. W. in 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 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 34–38 mm.

Biology

Adults are on wing from March to April depending on the location. The larvae feed on the leaves of '' Prunus spinosa'' north of the Alps. In the South they feed on ''

Prunus ''Prunus'' is a genus of trees and shrubs, which includes (among many others) the fruits plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, and almonds. Native to the North American temperate regions, the neotropics of South America, and the p ...

'' and ''

Crataegus ''Crataegus'' (), commonly called hawthorn, quickthorn, thornapple, Voss, E. G. 1985. ''Michigan Flora: A guide to the identification and occurrence of the native and naturalized seed-plants of the state. Part II: Dicots (Saururaceae–Cornacea ...

'' species.

References

External links

Green-brindled Dot on UKmothsFauna Europaeawww.lepiforum.dewww.schmetterlinge-deutschlands.de/
Cuculliinae Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Moths of the Middle East Taxa named by Michael Denis Taxa named by Ignaz Schiffermüller Moths described in 1775 {{Cuculliinae-stub