This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Dot Moth is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
| Dot Moth | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
| Binomial name | ||||||||||||||
| Melanchra persicariae Linnaeus, 1761 |
The Dot Moth (Melanchra persicariae) is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found throughout Europe apart from the south-east.
This is a very distinctive species with very dark brown, almost black, forewings marked with a large white stigma from which the species gets its common name. The hindwings are grey with a dark band at the termen. The wingspan is 38-50 mm. It flies at night in July and August and is attracted to light, sugar and flowers.
The larva is rather variable in colour, being green, brown or even purplish. It is marked with lighter diagonal markings and has a distinctive hump at the rear end. It is polyphagous, feeding on a wide variety of plants (see list below). The species overwinters as a pupa.
- ^ The flight season refers to the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range.
Recorded food plants
- Aconitum
- Actaea
- Aegopodium - Ground-elder
- Alnus - Grey Alder
- Aquilegia - Columbine
- Betula - Silver Birch
- Calluna - Heather
- Campanula
- Cirsium - Creeping Thistle
- Delphinium
- Hieracium - Hawkweed
- Impatiens - Touch-me-not Balsam
- Larix - Larch
- Lupinus - Lupin
- Lysimachia - Yellow Loosestrife
- Petunia
- Phlox
- Polygonum
- Prunus - Bird Cherry
- Pteridium - Bracken
- Quercus - Holm oak
- Ribes - Currant
- Rubus - Raspberry
- Rudbeckia
- Salix - Willow
- Sambucus - Elder
- Solidago - Goldenrod
- Sorbus - Rowan
- Spinacia - Spinach
- Tagetes
- Tropaeolum - Nasturtium
- Urtica - Nettle
- Vaccinium - Bilberry
References
- Chinery, Michael Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe 1986 (Reprinted 1991)
- Skinner, Bernard Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles 1984
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 27 February 2008, at 14:35.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Dot Moth".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.