Cucullia asteris

Cucullia asteris
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Superfamily:	Noctuoidea
Family:	Noctuidae
Genus:	Cucullia
Species:	C. asteris
Binomial name
	Cucullia asteris; (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775)

Cucullia asteris, or star-wort, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775. It is found through the Palearctic including Japan.

Illustration from John Curtis's *British Entomology* Volume 5

Larva feeding on goldenrod

Technical description and variation

C. asteris Schiff (27 e). Forewing pale grey; costal area dull reddish brown; the cell and space beyond rufous tinged: stigmata obscure, incompletely defined by brown, the reniform with a dark curved streak at its lower end; outer line defined only below vein 2 on submedian fold where it forms a double red-brown lunule, followed by a white one beyond which is a thick brown blotch or two streaks; both the inner and outer lines are marked by very oblique dark brown streaks on inner margin; hindwing brownish, the basal half dull whitish grey with dark veins. Larva yellow green; dorsal, subdorsal, and spiracular lines yellow with black edges; head yellow brown, with black spots.^[1] The wingspan is 45–52 mm.

Biology

The moth flies from May to September depending on the location.

The larvae feed on Aster tripolium, goldenrod, and other Aster species.

References

^ Warren. W. in Seitz, A. Ed., 1914 Die Großschmetterlinge der Erde, Verlag Alfred Kernen, Stuttgart Band 3: Abt. 1, Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen eulenartigen Nachtfalter, 1914 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

External links

Kimber, Ian. "73.055 BF2217 Star-wort Cucullia asteris ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775)". UKMoths. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
Fauna Europaea
Lepiforum e. V. (in German)
De Vlinderstichting (in Dutch)

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[1] Warren. W. in Seitz, A. Ed., 1914 Die Großschmetterlinge der Erde, Verlag Alfred Kernen, Stuttgart Band 3: Abt. 1, Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen eulenartigen Nachtfalter, 1914 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

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