''Cymbalophora pudica'', the discrete chaperon, 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 ...

. The species was first described by

Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper (2 June 1742 – 27 July 1810) was a German zoologist and naturalist. Born in Wunsiedel in Bavaria, he was professor of zoology at Erlangen university. Life and work Eugen and his brother Friedrich were intro ...

in 1784.

Varieties

*''Cymbalophora pudica'' ab. ''cohaerens'' Schultz, 1905 *''Cymbalophora pudica'' ab. ''flaveola'' Schultz, 1906 *''Cymbalophora pudica'' ab. ''flavescens'' Oberthür, 1911 *''Cymbalophora pudica'' ab. ''fumosa'' Oberthür, 1911 *''Cymbalophora pudica magnifica'' Rothschild, 1914

Distribution

''Cymbalophora pudica'' can be found in southern Europe from the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and in western

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

. These moths prefer sunny, rocky areas, grasslands, scrublands and mountain slopes at low to middle elevations.

Description

Suedlicher_Baer-2008-Sardinien-Thomas_Huntke

The

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 ''Cymbalophora pudica'' is typically 35–42 mm in males and 37–42 mm in females."''Cymbalophora pudica'' (Esper, 1784)"
''Papillons de Poitou-Charentes''. The background color of the wings and the shape of their markings are rather variable. The external surface of the forewings usually may be milky white or pinkish, with a pattern of black triangular patches. Hindwings vary from white to pinkish with marginal spots. The blackish-haired thorax is characterized by two yellowish longitudinal stripes and by a broad, yellowish cervical spine. The antennae of the males are ciliated (hairy), while those of the females are filiform (thread like). The abdomen is reddish with black spots. The wings may be shaded with yellowish in ''Cymbalophora'' f. ''flaveola'' Schultz, 1906, in gray in ''Cymbalophora'' f. ''fumosa'' Oberthür, 1911. ''Cymbalophora'' f. ''Cohaerens'' Schultz, 1905 shows confluent spots. Very pink forms are called ''rosina''. The caterpillars are gray brown, hairy, and covered with black-brown warts on each segment. Like other species of the genus ''Cymbalophora'' ("cymbal bearers"), males are capable of emitting sounds from their wings during flight.

Biology

This species is

univoltine Voltinism is a term used in biology to indicate the number of broods or generations of an organism in a year. The term is most often applied to insects, and is particularly in use in sericulture, where silkworm varieties vary in their voltinism. ...

. Caterpillars can be found from May to June. Then they construct their cocoons and rest a long time in the cocoon prior to pupation. The moths are on wing from August to September, depending on the location. The larvae feed on ''

Taraxacum officinale ''Taraxacum officinale'', the dandelion or common dandelion, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the daisy family, Asteraceae. The common dandelion is well known for its yellow flower heads that turn into round balls of many silver-tuf ...

'', ''

Stipa ''Stipa'' is a genus of 141 species of large Perennial plant, perennial hermaphrodite, hermaphroditic grasses collectively known as feather grass, needle grass, and spear grass. They are placed in the subfamily Pooideae and the tribe Stipeae, w ...

'' species, '' Brachypodium phoenicoides'', ''

Festuca ''Festuca'' (fescue) is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the grass family Poaceae (subfamily Pooideae). They are evergreen or herbaceous perennial tufted grasses with a height range of and a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on ...

'' species, various grasses (

Poaceae Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivate ...

) and other low growing plants.Mazzei, Paolo; Morel, Daniel & Panfili, Ranier
''Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa''
/ref>

References

External links

''Lepiforum e.V.''
Callimorphina Moths of Europe Moths described in 1784 Taxa named by Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper {{Callimorphina-stub