''Hadula melanopa'', the broad-bordered white underwing, is a moth 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 ...

. The species was first described by

Carl Peter Thunberg Carl Peter Thunberg, also known as Karl Peter von Thunberg, Carl Pehr Thunberg, or Carl Per Thunberg (11 November 1743 – 8 August 1828), was a Swedish naturalist and an "apostle" of Carl Linnaeus. After studying under Linnaeus at Uppsala Un ...

in 1791. Subspecies ''H. m. melanopa'' is found in northern Scandinavia; subspecies ''H. m. rupestralis'' is found in the Alps, the

Balkan Mountains The Balkan mountain range (, , known locally also as Stara planina) is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula in Southeastern Europe. The range is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border betw ...

and the

Apennine Mountains The Apennines or Apennine Mountains (; grc-gre, links=no, Ἀπέννινα ὄρη or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; la, Appenninus or – a singular with plural meaning;''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which wou ...

; subspecies ''H. m. brunnea'' is found in mountainous areas of Great Britain and subspecies ''H. m. koizumidakeana'' is found in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Description

The wingspan of subspecies ''H. m. melanopa'' is 20–26 mm and subspecies ''H. m. brunnea'' has a wingspan of 25–29 mm. Forewing pale or dark grey with blacker markings, when fresh with a bluish grey powdering; the 3 stigmata black or black edged; outer line alone well-defined, lunulate-dentate; submarginal line preceded by blackish marks, which on costa and beyond cell coalesce and form blotches; fringe mottled black and white; hindwing white, with broad black terminal border; a large black cellspot; base and inner margin smoky fuscous; ab. ''wistroemi'' Lampa from Sweden and the Shetland islands, has the forewings darker, more mixed with brownish or yellow, the underside with a broad black border like that of hindwing; — in ''rupestralis'' Hbn. (= ''tristis'' Hbn., ''rupestris'' Hbn.) the white of the hindwing is obscured by dark smoky fuscous; this form is restricted to the Alps and the mountains of central Italy; ''vidua'' Hbn. is intermediate, the hindwing having a greyish white patch only beyond the reniform. It may be noted that in typical ''melanopa'' the underside of both wings is white, but becomes clouded and darkened in proportion to the darkening of the upperside.— Larva rosy purple; dorsal line ochreous edged with dark, and marked with red spots; subdorsal line yellowish, black edged, with row of black marks above and below it; the spiracular line pale yellow marked with red. 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

Adults are on wing from June to August in one generation. The larvae feed on various plants, including ''

Empetrum ''Empetrum'' is a genus of three species of dwarf evergreen shrubs in the heath family Ericaceae. They are commonly known as crowberries and bear edible fruit. They are commonly found in the northern hemisphere, from temperate to subarctic clima ...

'', '' Vaccinium'', '' Dryas octopetala'' and low growing '' Salix'' species.

Subspecies

*''Hadula melanopa melanopa'' (Scandinavia) *''Hadula melanopa rupestralis'' (Alps, Balkan and Apennine Mountains) *''Hadula melanopa brunnea'' (Great Britain) *''Hadula melanopa koizumidakeana'' (Japan)

References

External links

*
''Fauna Europaea''''Lepiforum e.V.''''Schmetterlinge-Deutschlands.de''
Hadenini Moths of Japan Moths of Europe Moths described in 1791 Taxa named by Carl Peter Thunberg {{Hadenini-stub