The sandhill rustic (''Luperina nickerlii'') is a

noctuid 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 other f ...

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 ...

found in various parts of western, southern and central Europe with several subspecies. The species was first described by

Christian Friedrich Freyer Christian Friedrich Freyer (25 August 1794, Wassertrüdingen – 11 November 1885, Augsburg) was a German entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and ...

in 1845.

Technical description and variation

It is like ''

Luperina testacea ''Luperina testacea'', the flounced rustic, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in Europe, Asia Minor and Armenia. Technical description and variation The wingspan is 30–35 mm. The length of the forewings is 14–18 mm." ...

'', but olive grey, without any rufous tinge; inner and outer lines conversely edged with whitish; a blackish shade before inner line from median vein to inner margin, interrupted at vein 1; claviform stigma broadly blackish; orbicular a minute white spot; reniform subquadrate, with fuscous centre and broad white annulus, the area beyond it blackish, submarginal line whiter, preceded, except between veins 6 and 7, by a blackish shade; a row of neat black marginal lunules; fringe dark grey pencilled with light grey; hindwing pure white, with dark marginal lunules and white fringe; the veins dark. Certain separation requires examination of the genitalia.

The sandhill rustic in Britain

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

, it flies in one generation between late July and late September and is represented by three subspecies:

Subspecies ''demuthi''

Found on the coasts of

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

and

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include L ...

Subspecies ''gueneei''

Found in coastal sandhills in

North Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia N ...

and

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...

Subspecies ''leechi''

Subspecies ''leechi'', is found on

Loe Bar The Loe ( kw, An Logh), also known as Loe Pool, is the largest natural freshwater lake () in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The earliest recorded appearance of this simple name form was in 1337, when it was called "La Loo", but is mentioned as 'the ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlan ...

, the shingle beach which separates

Loe Pool The Loe ( kw, An Logh), also known as Loe Pool, is the largest natural freshwater lake () in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The earliest recorded appearance of this simple name form was in 1337, when it was called "La Loo", but is mentioned as 'the ...

from the sea. Two

pupae A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...

, found in the sand, by Barry Goater and Michael Leech in September 1974 was the first sign of this previously unknown subspecies. The female moth is reluctant to fly and rarely appears at light; behaviour that has presumably evolved as an adaptation to its windswept habitat. With only one known population ssp. ''leechi'' is a Biodiversity Action Plan species, is listed in the

Red Data Book The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biolog ...

and a species account is given in the Cornish RDB.

Biology

The

larvae A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. T ...

feed on the stem and roots of sand couch (''Elytrigia juncea'') from September to the following July.

The sandhill rustic in Ireland

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, the sandhill rustic is represented by the subspecies ''knilli'', which occurs only in

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the cou ...

References

External links

* * Taxonomy
''Fauna Europaea''Site dedicated to the sandhill rusticArkive page on the sandhill rustic''Lepiforum e.V.''
{{Taxonbar , from=Q7354987 Luperina Moths described in 1845 Environment of Cornwall Moths of Europe Taxa named by Christian Friedrich Freyer