The Gothic (''Naenia typica'') is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of ...

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 othe ...

. The species was first described by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, ...

in his 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. It is distributed in temperate

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelag ...

, in the Palearctic realm, including Europe,

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ...

, Transcaucasia,

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the former ...

, Altai mountains, and west and central

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part o ...

. The forewings are broader than those of most other noctuids, and blackish with a network of fine white lines. The pattern is supposedly reminiscent of some elements of

Gothic architecture Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. I ...

. The hindwings are grey. The species flies at night in June and July in the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the 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 and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles (O ...

. It sometimes comes to light but is not generally strongly attracted. By contrast, it is strongly attracted to sugar and flowers.

Technical description and variation

This species has a

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

of 36 to 46 mm. Forewing brownish fuscous, the veins pale; edges of the upper stigmata whitish; the cell blackish; lines pale with dark edges; hindwing brownish fuscous. The form ''issyca'' Püng, from Issykkul, is redder, and has the termen less crenulate. — ''brunnea'' Tutt has the ground colour ochreous brown with the veins pale ochreous instead of white.

Biology

Larva greenish grey, darker dorsally, with subdorsal black patches and a row of indistinct pale oblique streaks along the sides; spiracular line pale, pinkish ochreous, broadly black edged above; ventral surface yellowish. It is gregarious when young. It is polyphagous, feeding on a wide range of plants, such as burdock, '' Artemisia'', mustards, '' Buddleja'',

marigold Marigold may refer to: * Marigold (color), a yellow-orange color It may also refer to: Plants * In the genus ''Calendula'': ** Common marigold, '' Calendula officinalis'' (also called pot marigold, ruddles, or Scotch marigold) * In the genus ' ...

, chrysanthemum, hawthorn, '' Cyclamen'', silverberry, fireweed,

forsythia ''Forsythia'' , is a genus of flowering plants in the olive family Oleaceae. There are about 11 species, mostly native to eastern Asia, but one native to southeastern Europe. ''Forsythia'' – also one of the plant's common names – i ...

, hop, lettuce, '' Lepisanthes'',

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ances ...

, '' Parthenocissus'', plantain, '' Prunus'', pear, rhododendron, willow, spinach,

dandelion ''Taraxacum'' () is a large 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 is native to Eurasia and Nor ...

, coltsfoot, and nettle. This species overwinters as a larva.

Notes

References

* Chinery, Michael (1986, reprinted 1991). ''Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe''. , . * Skinner, Bernard (1984). '' The Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles''. Harmondsworth: Viking, 1984. .

External links

* * Taxonomy
''Lepiforum e.V.''
{{Taxonbar , from=Q515866 Naenia (moth) Moths described in 1758 Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus