''Tyta luctuosa'' is a

noctuid 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 ...

("owlet")

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 ...

. Its common names include four-spotted moth and field bindweed moth. It is the only member of the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

''Tyta'', which belongs to the

Metoponiinae Metoponiinae is a subfamily of owlet moths in the family Noctuidae. There are about 16 genera and more than 70 described species in Metoponiinae. Genera These 16 genera belong to the subfamily Metoponiinae: * '' Aegle'' Hübner, 1823 * '' Axenu ...

subfamily. The species was first described by

Michael Denis Johann Nepomuk Cosmas Michael Denis, also: ''Sined the Bard'', (27 September 1729 – 29 September 1800) was an Austrian Catholic priest and Jesuit, who is best known as a poet, bibliographer, and lepidopterist. Life Denis was born at Schärding ...

and

Ignaz Schiffermüller Ignaz Schiffermüller (born 2 October 1727 in Hellmonsödt; died 21 June 1806 in Linz) was an Austrian naturalist mainly interested in Lepidoptera. Schiffermüller was a teacher at the Theresianum College in Vienna. His collection was present ...

in 1775. The genus was erected by

Gustaf Johan Billberg Gustaf Johan Billberg (14 June 1772, Karlskrona – 26 November 1844, Stockholm) was a Swedish botanist, zoologist and anatomist, although professionally and by training he was a lawyer and used science and biology as an avocation. The plant g ...

in 1820. This moth is native to much of the Palearctic - most of Europe east to the Caucasus, Kazakhstan and from Siberia to China and south to North Africa. The adult moth is about eleven millimeters long and dark brown with one large white spot on each of its four wings.

Technical description and variation

Its forewings are purplish fuscous, becoming paler, and more brownish, towards the termen, and sometimes at the extreme base; the lines black, fine; the inner oblique, thrice waved; the outer excurved above middle, incurved below; subterminal line pale, preceded by a darker shade; fringe white with a dark patch below middle; an abbreviated white band from costa to vein 3 beyond cell, sometimes tinged with tannish peach; hindwing with a white median band of varying width; in ab. ''angustifascia'' ab. nov. this band is greatly restricted and sometimes interrupted; the examples in which the white costal blotch of forewing is tinged with flesh colour constitute the ab. ''ochracea'' Tutt. The larvae are grey, sometimes reddish grey and darker at the sides; hues pale with dark edges somewhat interrupted; spiracular line dark brown, pale edge; beneath; subspiracular reddish brown; face ochreous grey with rows of small dark dots. The first two pairs of

proleg A proleg is a small, fleshy, stub structure found on the ventral surface of the abdomen of most larval forms of insects of the order Lepidoptera, though they can also be found on other larval insects such as sawflies and a few other types of in ...

s are shorter than usual. 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

Biology

Two adult generations emerge each year, one in late spring and one in summer. In warm areas there is often a third generation. The female lays about 400 to 500 eggs. 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. ...

is a brown caterpillar. The larva is the destructive stage. It eats leaves and flowers, especially new buds. This is the desired effect of this moth when it is used as an agent of biological pest control against field bindweed (''Convolvulus arvensis''). It was first introduced into the United States in the 1980s to attack this agricultural

weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, "a plant in the wrong place", or a plant growing where it is not wanted.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. ...

, which is its main food plant.

References

* Coombs, E. M., et al., Eds. (2004). ''Biological Control of Invasive Plants in the United States''. Corvallis: Oregon State University Press, 155.

External links

''Fauna Europaea''''Lepiforum e.V.''''De Vlinderstichting''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q341886 Noctuidae Monotypic moth genera Taxa named by Michael Denis Taxa named by Ignaz Schiffermüller