''Notodonta dromedarius'', the iron prominent, 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

Notodontidae Notodontidae is a family of moths with approximately 3,800 known species. The family was described by James Francis Stephens in 1829. Moths of this family are found in all parts of the world, but they are most concentrated in tropical areas, es ...

. The species was first described by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

in 1767. It is found in Europe and

Anatolia 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 ...

Description

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 35–40 mm. ''Notodonta dromedarius'' has grey or dark brown forewings with rusty and yellowish stains. A broken rust-brown band runs along the outside edge of the forewing. There is a small discal spot, a postmedial crossline which is often broken and outer margins which are suffused dark red. The hindwings are usually pale grey-brown with dark veining. The colouring is very variable and very dark specimens are found. Description in Seitz-Forewing pale brownish grey to dark drome- grey-brown, with light-edged dark brown pre- and postdiseal dentate bands, the dark discal spot likewise pale- . edged; marginal area more or less distinctly rust -brown around a dark longitudinal streak, the rather broad submarginal band also bright rust-brown. Hindwing grey-brown or predominantly grey. In specimens whose ground-colour is faded on account of age or is not properly developed, the bright markings are very prominent. On the other hand, quite fresh specimens are almost uniformly black-brown, being so dark that the markings are hardly visible. — Central Europe, northward to Esthonia and Livonia, southward to Catalonia and Northern Italy ; Armenia ; according to Graeser also in Amurland. — Larva yellowish green or brown-red, in both cases with a dark red-brown dorsal stripe from head to abdominal segment 4; segments 1 —4 of abdomen each with a large dark red-brown tubercle; an interrupted dark longitudinal marking laterally above the legs. July—August on Willow, Birch, Hazel and Alder. Pupa black-brown, in a cell in the ground. Moth May—June and July-—August. Some of the pupae of the summer-brood hibernate. In the Baltic provinces only one brood.

Biology

The moth flies from April to August depending on the location. The larvae feed on ''

Corylus avellana ''Corylus avellana'', the common hazel, is a species of flowering plant in the birch tree, birch family Betulaceae. The shrubs usually grow tall. The nut is round, in contrast to the longer Corylus maxima, filbert nut. Common hazel is native to E ...

'',

birch 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 ...

alder 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 ex ...

and

oak 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 ...

. Image:Britishentomologyvolume5Plate739.jpg, Illustration from

John Curtis John Ream Curtis (born May 10, 1960) is an American politician serving since 2025 as the junior United States senator from Utah. A member of the Republican Party, Curtis served from 2017 to 2025 as the U.S. representative for Utah's 3rd congre ...

's ''

British Entomology ''British Entomology'' is a classic work of entomology by John Curtis (entomologist), John Curtis, Linnean Society of London, FLS. It is subtitled ''Being Illustrations and Descriptions of the Genera of Insects found in Great Britain and Ireland: ...

'' Volume 5 Image:71.012 BF2000 Iron Prominent, Notodonta dromedarius, larva (9531917416).jpg, Larva

References

External links

Iron prominent on ''UKMoths''''Fauna Europaea''''Lepiforum e.V.''''De Vlinderstichting''
Notodontidae Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Moths described in 1767 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Notodontidae-stub

Description

Biology

References

Further reading

External links