''Setina aurita'' 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 Erebidae. It was first described by

Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper (2 June 1742 – 27 July 1810) was a German zoologist and naturalist. Born in Wunsiedel in Bavaria, he was professor of zoology at Erlangen university. Life and work Eugen and his brother Friedrich were intr ...

in 1787.

Subspecies

*''Setina aurita aurita'' *''Setina aurita imbuta'' (Hübner,

803 __NOTOC__ Year 803 ( DCCCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Emperors Nikephoros I and Charlemagne settle their imperial boundaries i ...

*''Setina aurita pfisteri'' Burmann et Tarmann, 1985 *''Setina aurita teriolensis'' (Burmann, 1955)

Distribution and habitat

This species is only found in central Europe (

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

and Switzerland), in part of the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, ...

between 1,000 and 3,000 meters above sea level. These moths inhabit stony alpine grasslands, rocky slope and sunny meadows.

Description

The

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 ''Setina aurita'' can reach 25–32 mm. These small moths have whitish-yellow to orange-yellow forewings with longitudinal dark brown stripes reaching the wings' margins, where there are black dots. In some specimens only black dots are present on the entire wings. The wing drawing is strongly dependent on the altitude. Usually the moths living at more than 2,000 meters show stripes, while at lower elevation they are more dotted. Caterpillars can reach a length of about . They are exceptionally long haired, yellow, with five longitudinal grayish-black stripes and grayish-black warts. The head is black. This species is quite similar to the dew moth ('' Setina irrorella'') and '' Setina roscida''."''Setina aurita'' (Esper, 1787) Gelber Alpen-Flechtenbär"
''Portal für Schmetterlinge und Raupen''. Retrieved October 7, 2019.

Biology

Adults of these day-flying moths can be found from April to October depending on the elevation. The females lay their eggs on stones and rocks. The caterpillars live and pupate usually under rocks. The larvae feed on yellow lichens (''

Xanthoria parietina ''Xanthoria parietina'' is a foliose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It has wide distribution, and many common names such as common orange lichen, yellow scale, maritime sunburst lichen and shore lichen. It can be found near the shore on ...

'') and other lichen species growing on the rocks. This species overwinters, often two or three times, as caterpillars, that are active on mild winter days. ''Setina aurita'', like other species belonging to the genus ''Setina'', is known to emit

ultrasound Ultrasound is sound waves with frequencies higher than the upper audible limit of human hearing. Ultrasound is not different from "normal" (audible) sound in its physical properties, except that humans cannot hear it. This limit varies fr ...

s (a crackling noise) during flight, with the function of courtship signals.William E. Conne
Tiger Moths and Woolly Bears: Behavior, Ecology, and Evolution of the Arctiidae
/ref>

Bibliography

* Esper, E. J. C. 1786. Die Schmetterlinge in Abbildungen nach der Natur mit Beschreibungen. Vierter Theil. Europäische Gattungen. - pp. 1–372. Erlangen. (Walther) * Heiko Bellmann: Der Neue Kosmos Schmetterlingsführer, Schmetterlinge, Raupen und Futterpflanzen, Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co, Stuttgart 2003,

References

External links

* Paolo Mazzei, Daniel Morel, Raniero Panfil

* ttp://www.pyrgus.de/Setina_aurita_en.html ''Lepidoptera and their Ecology''
Lepidopteres de France meridionale et de Corse

Lepi Net - Les Carnets du Lépidoptériste Français
{{taxonbar, from=Q1310654 Endrosina Moths of Europe Taxa named by Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper Moths described in 1787