The gold spangle (''Autographa bractea'') is a

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

of the family

Noctuidae The Noctuidae, commonly known as owlet moths, cutworms or armyworms, are a family (biology), family of moths. Taxonomically, they are considered the most controversial family in the superfamily Noctuoidea because many of the clades are constantly ...

. 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 Schärdin ...

and

Ignaz Schiffermüller Jeremias "Johann" Ignaz Schiffermüller (; 2 November 1727 – 21 June 1806) was an Austrian naturalist and Jesuit teacher who took a special interest in the Lepidoptera. In order to describe the colours of butterflies, he also looked for a syste ...

in 1775. It is found in Europe, across western

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

and the

Altai Mountains The Altai Mountains (), also spelled Altay Mountains, are a mountain range in Central Asia, Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan converge, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob River, Ob have their headwaters. The ...

, the northern

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

, northern

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and northern

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. left P. bractea F. ( = securis Vill.) Forewing purplish fuscous with many fine dark strigulae; the lines finely dark but indistinct, inwardly oblique; the inner line below middle finely golden, the outer golden at inner margin only; median area below middle ferruginous brown, containing at base of vein 2 a large irregular somewhat sinuous shining golden blotch (the golden blotch varies from a subquadrate, somewhat anvil-shaped mark to an elongate, sinuous, tongue-shaped one); a deeper diffuse shade from apex to middle; hindwing dull bronzy yellowish tinged with fuscous; the terminal area diffusely deep fuscous. Larva pale green; dorsal and spiracular lines white; head pale green marked with brown. Its

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

is 42–50 mm.

Biology

The moth flies from July to August depending on the location, and migrates long distances. The

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e feed on a wide range of plants including ''

Hieracium ''Hieracium'' (), known by the common name hawkweed and classically as (from ancient Greek ἱέραξ, 'hawk'), is a genus of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, and closely related to dandelion (''Taraxacum''), chicory (''Cichorium''), ...

'', ''

Tussilago farfara ''Tussilago farfara'', commonly known as coltsfoot, is a plant in the tribe Senecioneae in the family Asteraceae, native to Europe and parts of western and central Asia. The name "tussilago" is derived from the Latin ''tussis'', meaning cough, an ...

'', ''

Plantago ''Plantago'' is a genus of about 200 species of flowering plants in the family Plantaginaceae, commonly called plantains or fleaworts. The common name plantain is shared with the unrelated cooking plantain. Most are herbaceous plants, though a ...

'', ''

Crepis paludosa ''Crepis paludosa'', the marsh hawk's-beard, is a European species of flowering plant in the tribe Cichorieae of the family Asteraceae. It is widespread across much of Europe with isolated populations in Iceland, the Ural Mountains, and the Cauca ...

'', ''

Taraxacum ''Taraxacum'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, which consists of species commonly known as dandelions. The scientific and hobby study of the genus is known as taraxacology. The genus has a near-cosmopolitan distribu ...

'', ''

Urtica ''Urtica'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Urticaceae. Many species have stinging hairs and may be called nettles or stinging nettles (the latter name applying particularly to ''Urtica dioica, U. dioica''). The generic name ''Urtica' ...

'', ''

Lamium ''Lamium'' (dead-nettles) is a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae, of which it is the type genus. They are all herbaceous plants native to Eurasia and northern Africa, with several widely naturalised across muc ...

'', ''

Stachys ''Stachys'' is a genus of plants, one of the largest in the mint family Lamiaceae.Harley, R. M., et al. 2004. "Labiatae". pages 167–275. In: Kubitzki, K. (editor) and J. W. Kadereit (volume editor). ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants ...

'' and ''

Eupatorium cannabinum ''Eupatorium cannabinum'', commonly known as hemp-agrimony, or holy rope, is a herbaceous plant in the family Asteraceae. It is a robust Perennial plant, perennial native to Europe, NW. Africa, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, the Caucasus and ...

''.

References

External links

Gold Spangle at ''UKMoths''''Fauna Europaea''
*
www.lepiforum.de ''Lepiforum e.V.''''Schmetterlinge-Deutschlands.de''
Plusiini Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Moths described in 1775 Taxa named by Michael Denis Taxa named by Ignaz Schiffermüller {{Plusiinae-stub