Callistege Mi
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''Callistege mi'', the Mother Shipton moth, 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
Erebidae The Erebidae are a family (biology), 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 underwin ...
. It was classified by
Carl Alexander Clerck Carl Alexander Clerck (1709 – 22 July 1765) was a Sweden, Swedish entomologist and arachnology, arachnologist. Clerck came from a family in the petty Swedish nobility, nobility and entered the University of Uppsala in 1726. Little is known of hi ...
in 1759, and is also known under the name of ''Euclidia mi''. In Finnish it is known as ''piirtoyökkönen'' and in
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
as ''Scheck-Tageule''.


Variations

Variations include: *''Callistege mi'' ab. ''ochrea'' Tutt has the ground colour of hindwing yellow; this is the usual form in Britain, where sometimes the forewing also is tinged with yellowish: the underside of both being yellow; *''Callistege mi'' ab. ''illuminata'' ab. nov.
arren Arren may refer to: * Arren Bar-Even (1980–2020), Israeli biochemist and biologist * Arren, a major character in ''The Farthest Shore'' and ''The Other Wind'', fantasy novels by Ursula K. Le Guin * Arrën Arrën is a village and a former munic ...
is a paler form of the type in which the dark areas are restricted by the amplification of the pale spaces, the underside yellowish white; in litterata Cyr. from Italy the white is pure, the underside bluish white; but the white spots of the upperside are restricted in size; *''Callistege mi'' ab. ''extrema'' B.-Haas from
Amurland Outer Manchuria, sometimes called Russian Manchuria, refers to a region in Northeast Asia that is now part of the Russian Far East but historically formed part of Manchuria (until the mid-19th century). While Manchuria now more normatively refer ...
and Central Asia, the white predominates still more over the black than in ''illuminata'', the underside being also pure white; *''Callistege mi'' ab ''suffusa'' ab. nov.
arren Arren may refer to: * Arren Bar-Even (1980–2020), Israeli biochemist and biologist * Arren, a major character in ''The Farthest Shore'' and ''The Other Wind'', fantasy novels by Ursula K. Le Guin * Arrën Arrën is a village and a former munic ...
from Italy, the white spaces are almost crowded out and both wings are nearly black: the underside with all the veins black and the ground colour yellowish white; ab. ''explanata'' Rbl. is a clear whitish yellow form from
Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
; *''Callistege mi'' ab. ''aurantiaca'' ab. nov.
arren Arren may refer to: * Arren Bar-Even (1980–2020), Israeli biochemist and biologist * Arren, a major character in ''The Farthest Shore'' and ''The Other Wind'', fantasy novels by Ursula K. Le Guin * Arrën Arrën is a village and a former munic ...
from Portugal the ground colour is orange yellow.


Distribution

This species spans over most of Europe,
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 ...
, the
Russian Far East The Russian Far East ( rus, Дальний Восток России, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in North Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asia, Asian continent, and is coextensive with the Far Easte ...
and
Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
. On the
British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...
it is most common in
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
and
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
; less so in
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
and
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
.''Catalogue of Life''
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Technical description

The adult moth's forewing is 13 to 16 mm (0.51 to 0.63 inches) long, and the wingspan is 25 to 30 mm (0.98 to 1.18 inches). Forewings are black slightly dusted with grey. Lines are whitish, the subbasal ending in a grey-edged black spot on inner margin; the inner is obliquely curved outwards; the outer is angled at vein 6, indented on 4 and angled inwards below vein 2, running upwards and outwards below reniform, then downwards again parallel to its former course, and finally running in to the inner line above inner margin. Orbicular stigma is a round black spot with grey outline; reniform large and black, edged externally by a white bar, which often emits a narrow pale line externally from its middle subterminal line sinuous, double, somewhat lunulate, with dark centre and pale-scaled edges, except at costa where it is single and white, preceded by oblong black spots separated by the pale veins. Hindwings have the cell ochreous white, containing a black cellspot; outer and subterminal sinuous series of ochreous white spots between the veins. Fringe of both wings are mottled black and white, with pale line at base; underside is ochreous white.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 larva is yellowish with a dorsal line dark, finely pale in centre and with several fine wavy lines on each side. The spiracular line is broad, dark reddish brown, edged below with yellow or red.


Biology

The stages of its life cycle are as follows:
egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...
: MaySeptember,
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 ...
: JuneSeptember,
pupa A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages th ...
: JulyMay, and
imago In biology, the imago (Latin for "image") is the last stage an insect attains during its metamorphosis, its process of growth and development; it is also called the ''imaginal'' stage ("imaginal" being "imago" in adjective form), the stage in wh ...
: MayJuly. It flies by day, normally taking only short, rapid flights, and can be found in wasteland and other open habitats. It hibernates as a pupa, and does so in a cocoon among blades of grass, or right underneath the ground. Among its foods is the nectar of the
white clover ''Trifolium repens'', the white clover, is a herbaceous perennial plant in the bean family Fabaceae (otherwise known as Leguminosae). It is native to Europe, including the British Isles, and central Asia and is one of the most widely cultivated ...
and the
creeping buttercup ''Ranunculus repens'', the creeping buttercup, is a flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native to Europe, Asia and northwestern Africa. Habitat It is a very common weed of agricultural land and gardens, spreading quickly by it ...
. The larva feeds on '' Elymus arenarius'', ''
Polygonum aviculare ''Polygonum aviculare'' or common knotgrass is a plant related to buckwheat and dock. It is also called prostrate knotweed, birdweed, pigweed and lowgrass. It is an annual found in fields and wasteland, with white flowers from June to October. I ...
'', ''
Lathyrus pratensis ''Lathyrus pratensis'' or meadow vetchling, yellow pea, meadow pea and meadow pea-vine, is a perennial legume that grows to 1.2 m in height. The hermaphrodite flowers are pollinated by bees. As a perennial, this plant reproduces itself over man ...
'', ''
Vicia ''Vicia'' is a genus of over 240 species of flowering plants that are part of the legume family (Fabaceae), and which are commonly known as vetches. Member species are native to Europe, North America, South America, Asia and Africa. Some other g ...
'' spp., ''
Calluna vulgaris ''Calluna vulgaris'', common heather, ling, or simply heather, is the sole species in the genus ''Calluna'' in the flowering plant family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing evergreen shrub growing to tall, or rarely to and taller, and is found wide ...
'', ''
Hypericum maculatum ''Hypericum maculatum'', commonly known as imperforate St John's-wort, or spotted St. Johnswort, is a species of perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the family Hypericaceae. It is native to Europe and Western Asia where it grows in moist me ...
'', ''
Andromeda polifolia ''Andromeda polifolia'', common name bog-rosemary, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae, native to northern parts of the Northern Hemisphere. It is the only member of the genus ''Andromeda'', and is only found in bogs in ...
'', ''
Galium verum ''Galium verum'' (lady's bedstraw or yellow bedstraw) is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is widespread across most of Europe, North Africa, and temperate Asia from Palestine, Lebanon and Turkey to Japan and Kam ...
'', ''
Melilotus officinalis ''Melilotus officinalis'', known as sweet yellow clover, yellow melilot, ribbed melilot and common melilot, is a species of legume native to Eurasia and introduced in North America, Africa, and Australia. Description ''Melilotus officinalis'' ca ...
'', ''
Lotus corniculatus ''Lotus corniculatus'' is a flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae. Common names include common bird's-foot trefoil, eggs and bacon, birdsfoot deervetch, and just bird's-foot trefoil (a name also often applied to other ''Lotus'' spp.). It ha ...
'' and ''
Medicago lupulina ''Medicago lupulina'', commonly known as black medick, nonesuch, or hop clover, is a plant of dry grassland belonging to the legume or clover family. Plants of the genus ''Medicago'', or bur clovers, are closely related to the true clovers (''Tri ...
''.


Human culture

The popular English name for this moth comes from the pattern on its forewing. This pattern resembles the iconic representation of Ursula Southeil, known as Mother Shiptona sixteenth-century prophetess and witch. Mother Shipton is a mostly mythical character, who supposedly foretold the death of
Cardinal Wolsey Thomas Wolsey ( ; – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic cardinal. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the controlling f ...
in 1530. Charles Hindley, a nineteenth-century bookseller, created a prophetic poem that he claimed to be by Shipton. This poem told of "Carriages without horses" and air planes, as well as predicting the end of the world in 1881.


References


External links

* With ''Euclidia'' taxonomy.
''Euclidia mi'' on ''Lepiforum e.V.''

''Euclidia mi'' on ''De Vlinderstichting''
* Paolo Mazzei, Daniel Morel, Raniero Panfil

{{taxonbar , from=Q579690 Moths described in 1759 Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Callistege Taxa named by Carl Alexander Clerck