''Lithophane furcifera'', the conformist, 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

Noctuidae The Noctuidae, commonly known as owlet moths, cutworms or armyworms, are a family (biology), family of moths. Taxonomically, they are considered the most controversial family in the superfamily Noctuoidea because many of the clades are constantly ...

. The species was first described by

Johann Siegfried Hufnagel Johann Siegfried Hufnagel (17 October 1724, Uckerfelde, Falkenwalde, Prenzlau district, Brandenburg – 23 February 1795, Langenfeld, Sternberg district) was a German parson and entomologist (lepidopterist). Life Until the late 20th century nothin ...

in 1766. It is found from central Europe, east to the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

region, the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

and western

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 ...

. In the mountains, it is found up to elevations of 1,800 meters.

Description in Seitz

''L. furcifera'' Hubn. (= ''bifurca'' Esp., ''conformis'' Hbn.) (30 i). Forewing purplish grey irrorated with olive; a thick black streak from base below cell, upcurved and forked, edged above by a white line; another from claviform to outer line; lines black, edged with pale grey, fairly distinct; claviform and orbicular pale blue grey edged with black; reniform inwardly bearing a fulvous crescent, its lower edge curved and black; a dark median shade and a narrow one before submarginal line; hindwing brownish fuscous, darker towards termen, sometimes showing a large cellspot and dark outer line; ab. ''rufescens'' Spul. has the forewing more or less flushed with reddish; nearly all of these, however, seem to be females, while the males remain dark purple grey without the red tinge; — ab. ''suffusa'' Tutt from the West of England is violet black; ab. ''variegata'' Spuler corresponding to the ''zinckenii'' form of ''

lamda The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) is a drama school located in Hammersmith, London. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest specialist drama school in the British Isles and a founding member of the Federation of Drama Schools. In ...

'' is much more variegated, the dark markings being relieved by silvery grey. — Larva red brown or earth brown marbled with black dots and streaks; the lines pale yellow; a dorsal series of diamond shaped marks and subdorsal series of oblique black streaks ; another form of the larva is said to be green marked with yellow. 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 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 ...

is 42–48 mm.

Biology

Adults are on wing from August to (after overwintering) June of the following year. There is one generation per year. The larvae feed on the leaves of ''

Betula A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...

'', ''

Quercus An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

'', ''

Alnus Alders are trees of the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus includes about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species ext ...

'', ''

Salix Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...

'' and ''

Populus ''Populus'' is a genus of 25–30 species of deciduous flowering plants in the family Salicaceae, native to most of the Northern Hemisphere. English names variously applied to different species include poplar (), aspen, and cottonwood. The we ...

'' species. Larvae can be found from May to July.

References

External links

*
''Lepiforum e.V.''''Schmetterlinge-Deutschlands.de''
furcifera Moths described in 1766 Moths of Asia Moths of Europe Taxa named by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel {{Xyleninae-stub