''Charissa ambiguata'' is a species of

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 ...

that belongs to the genus '' Charissa''.

Etymology

The species name ''ambiguata'' derives from the Latin word "ambiguus", meraning doubtful, uncertain, probably so named for the difficulty of distinguishing this species.Lepiforum.de
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Subspecies

Subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

include: *''Charissa ambiguata ambiguata'' (Duponchel, 1830) *''Charissa ambiguata graecaria'' (Staudinger, 1861) *''Charissa ambiguata pullularia'' (Herrich-Schaffer, 1856) *''Charissa ambiguata tatrensis'' (Vojnits, 1969)

Distribution

This species is native to

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

. It is widespread in most of the mountains of Europe up to more than 2500 m of altitude. It frequents the surroundings of fir forests in cool and humid places.

Description

''Charissa ambiguata'' can reach a

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 ...

of . It can easily be confused with other "stone moths", especially with '' Elophos dilucidaria. However the genitalia in both sexes show marked differences compared to all externally similar species. This moth is very variable, with a gray-brownish background crossed by two transversal lines and ocelli with a faded appearance. Male shows filiform antennae.Oreina.org
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Biology

This species fly from May to September. The imago is sometimes active during the day but it also comes to light. Larva of this polyphagous species mainly feeds on

Sedum ''Sedum'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Crassulaceae, members of which are commonly known as stonecrops. The genus has been described as containing up to 600 species, subsequently reduced to 400–500. They are leaf succule ...

, Artemisia,

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 ...

Campanula ''Campanula'' () is the type genus of the Campanulaceae family (biology), family of flowering plants. ''Campanula'' are commonly known as bellflowers and take both their common and scientific names from the bell-shaped flowers—''campanula'' i ...

, and

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 ...

species, on ''

Rubus idaeus ''Rubus idaeus'' (raspberry, also called red raspberry or occasionally European red raspberry to distinguish it from other raspberry species) is a red-fruited species of ''Rubus'' native to Europe and northern Asia and commonly cultivated in oth ...

'', '' Polygala chamaebuxus'', ''

Vaccinium myrtillus ''Vaccinium myrtillus'' or European blueberry is a Holarctic realm, holarctic species of shrub with edible fruit of blue color, known by the common names bilberry, blaeberry, wimberry, and whortleberry. It is more precisely called common bilberr ...

'' and ''

Vaccinium uliginosum ''Vaccinium uliginosum'' (bog bilberry, bog blueberry, northern bilberry or western blueberry) is a Eurasian and North American flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae. Description ''Vaccinium uliginosum'' is a small deciduous shrub growi ...

''.Plant Parasites of Europe
/ref> The caterpillar overwinters.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13461729 Gnophini