''Acronicta euphorbiae'', the sweet gale moth, 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.

Similar species

*''

Acronicta auricoma ''Acronicta auricoma'', the scarce dagger, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is distributed through most of the Palearctic. Distribution Missing in the Iberian Peninsula. On the Italian Peninsula the occurrence is limited essentially to the ...

'' *'' Acronicta megacephala'' *''

Acronicta aceris The sycamore (''Acronicta aceris'') is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. It is distributed through most of Europe, from central England south to Mor ...

'' *'' Acronicta menyanthidis''

Distribution

This species is distributed through parts of the

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

south of a line that is across southern Poland, from northern Scotland, northeastern Netherlands/border with north-western Germany, southeastward through the northern Czech Republic, Ukraine and southern Russia to the Ural mountains.

Habitat

These moths prefer warm, sunny slopes, grassy heaths, moorland and forests. In the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

, they rise up to over 2500 metres above sea level.

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 ...

of ''Acronicta euphorbiae'' can reach 32–40 mm. The females are slightly larger than the males and have darker hindwings. Forewings are grey dusted with darker; orbicular stigma is close beyond inner line; hindwings are white in male, fuscous in female with pale cilia. The ab. ''montivaga'' Guen. is a mountain form, with darker, bluer grey forewings, occurring in the Alps and in Norway. The ab. ''myricae'' Guen., occurring in the Scottish and Irish mountains, is still darker, with narrower, more pointed forewings, but not smaller as Staudinger states. The ab. ''euphrasiae'' Brahm, which appears to be the commoner form in France and south-western Europe, is paler than the type and more luteous; Lastly, the ab. ''esulae''. Hbn. is a quite, small form, with the markings obscured. Unlike adults the caterpillars are brightly coloured, with hairy spikes. They gets more colourful as they grow.

Biology

The adults fly at night from May to June . 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 ...

e feed on a wide range of plants, mainly on heather (''

Calluna vulgaris ''Calluna vulgaris'', common heather, ling, or simply heather, is the sole species in the genus ''Calluna'' in the flowering plant family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing evergreen shrub growing to tall, or rarely to and taller, and is found wide ...

''), bog-myrtle (''

Myrica gale ''Myrica gale'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Myricaceae native to parts of Eurasia and North America. Common names include bog-myrtle, sweet willow, Dutch myrtle, and sweetgale. Description ''Myrica gale'' is a deciduous shrub g ...

''), ''

Euphorbia ''Euphorbia'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants, commonly called spurge, in the family (biology), family Euphorbiaceae. Euphorbias range from tiny annual plants to large and long-lived trees, with perhaps the tallest being ''Eu ...

'', ''

Achillea ''Achillea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. The plants typically have frilly leaves and are known colloquially as yarrows, although this common name usually refers to '' A. millefolium''. The genus was named after ...

'', ''

Rumex The docks and sorrels, genus ''Rumex'', are a genus of about 200 species of annual, biennial, and perennial herbs in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae. Members of this genus are very common perennial herbs with a native almost worldwide distri ...

'' and ''

Plantago ''Plantago'' is a genus of about 200 species of flowering plants in the family Plantaginaceae, commonly called plantains or fleaworts. The common name plantain is shared with the unrelated cooking plantain. Most are herbaceous plants, though a ...

''.

Gallery

File: Acronicta euphorbiae - Wolfsmilch-Rindeneule 02 (HS).JPG, Sweet gale moth larva, first

instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'' 'form, likeness') is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, which occurs between each moult (''ecdysis'') until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to ...

File: Noctuidae - Acronicta euphorbiae - Caterpillar.jpg, Caterpillar of ''Acronicta euphorbiae'', last instar File: Acronicta euphorbiae.male.jpg, Mounted male File: Acronicta euphorbiae.female.jpg, Mounted female

Notes

#''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

External links

"08784 ''Acronicta euphorbiae'' (
''Lepiforum e. V.'' * {{Taxonbar">from=Q1849875 Acronicta Moths of Europe">enis & Schiffermüller], 1775) - Wolfsmilch-Rindeneule"
''Lepiforum e. V.'' * {{Taxonbar">from=Q1849875 Acronicta Moths of Europe Moths described in 1775 Taxa named by Michael Denis Taxa named by Ignaz Schiffermüller