Mythimna Albipuncta
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''Mythimna albipuncta'', the white-point, 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
Michael Denis Johann Nepomuk Cosmas Michael Denis, also: ''Sined the Bard'', (27 September 1729 – 29 September 1800) was an Austrian Catholic priest and Jesuit, who is best known as a poet, bibliographer, and lepidopterist. Life Denis was born at Schärdin ...
and
Ignaz Schiffermüller Jeremias "Johann" Ignaz Schiffermüller (; 2 November 1727 – 21 June 1806) was an Austrian naturalist and Jesuit teacher who took a special interest in the Lepidoptera. In order to describe the colours of butterflies, he also looked for a syste ...
in 1775. It is distributed throughout Europe and one
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 ...
is found in
Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
. It is also found in
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 ...
,
Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
, and
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
, and the northeastern
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
.


Technical description and variation

The moth has a wingspan of 30 to 35 mm. The length of the forewings varies from 14 to 17 mm. Forewing rufous brown, dusted with greyer; costal edge whitish; lines brown, conversely edged with paler; outer line obscurely lunulate-dentate, the teeth not marked by dots on veins; submarginal line pale, diffuse, edged outwardly with darker; reniform stigma forming a distinct white spot at lower end of cell; hindwing dark or pale grey, sometimes tinged with rufous or ochreous; in the form known as ''italogallica'' Mill, the wings are darker, dull brown; — ''flecki'' Carad.; from
Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
and the
Bukovina Bukovina or ; ; ; ; , ; see also other languages. is a historical region at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. It is located on the northern slopes of the central Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains, today divided betwe ...
, is rather smaller, the forewing dull grey brown, the hindwing fuscous: - in ''fasciata'' Spul. the darker brown tints are more strongly developed in median area so as to form a kind of fascia; besides the above already named forms there appear to be two more, equally deserving of a separate name; — ab. ''ochrea'' nov. arrenis ochreous, dusted with grey, and with a slight flush, rufous in male reddish brown in female, with the lines dark grey and the marginal area darker; the white spot at end of cell as usual; hindwing dirty whitish in male with termen greyer, more wholly grey in female; two males from Silvaplana, Engadine, Switzerland, and one female without locality; — the other, ab. ''expallidata'' nov. arrenis quite small, smooth pale grey with a tannish-peach tinge; the inner line hardly traceable, but the outer black and distinct throughout; the lunules and the teeth all alike strongly marked; but the usual marginal dark area is here concolorous with rest of wing; the median vein shows dark below the white discal spot; hindwing dirty white, greyer towards termen: One female from Digne, basses Alpes, June 1908.


Similar species

The species is similar to '' Mythimna conigera'' , '' Mythimna ferrago'' and ''
Mythimna unipuncta ''Mythimna unipuncta'', the true armyworm moth, white-speck moth, common armyworm, or rice armyworm, is a species of moth in the family Noctuidae. The species was Species description, first described by Adrian Hardy Haworth in 1809. ''Mythimna un ...
''.


Biology

The species occurs mainly in August and September, although there are records from June to October.. Larva dull reddish grey; dorsal line white, dark-edged; subdorsal line black, edged beneath with white and then a dark shade; spiracles black on a paler stripe. The
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 ...
feeds on various
grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...
es. The species survives winter as a caterpillar. # ''The flight season refers to 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 ...
. This may vary in other parts of the range.''


References

*Warning, Paul & Townsend, Martin (2006). ''Nachtvlinders, veldgids met alle in Nederland en België voorkomende soorten'', Baarn.


External links

* * Taxonomy
''Lepiforum e.V.''''De Vlinderstichting''
{{Taxonbar , from=Q1306035 Mythimna (moth) Moths described in 1775 Moths of Africa Moths of Asia Moths of Europe Taxa named by Michael Denis Taxa named by Ignaz Schiffermüller