Acronicta menyanthidis
Encyclopedia
The Light Knot Grass is a moth
of the family Noctuidae
. It is distributed through northern, central and eastern Europe
, east to Sibiria
and the Russian Far East
.
The wingspan
is 33-41 mm. The adults fly at night from May to July . They are attracted to light.
The caterpillar is blackish-brown with a red spiracular line with white dots. It feeds on moorland plants like bog myrtle and bilberry. Recorded foodplants include Myrica
, Calluna
, Vaccinium
, Salix, Betula, Ranunculus aconitifolius
, Comarum palustre, Lysimachia nummularia
and Menyanthes trifoliata.
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
of the family Noctuidae
Noctuidae
The Noctuidae or owlet moths are a family of robustly-built moths that includes more than 35,000 known species out of possibly 100,000 total, in more than 4,200 genera. They constitute the largest family in the Lepidoptera....
. It is distributed through northern, central and eastern Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, east to Sibiria
Sibiria
Sibiria is a Swedish indie pop band from Östersund, signed by the record label Hybris. Founded in 2003 by guitarist Martin Abrahamsson , singer Martin Hanberg and guitarist Erik Laquist...
and the Russian Far East
Russian Far East
Russian Far East is a term that refers to the Russian part of the Far East, i.e., extreme east parts of Russia, between Lake Baikal in Eastern Siberia and the Pacific Ocean...
.
The wingspan
Wingspan
The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...
is 33-41 mm. The adults fly at night from May to July . They are attracted to light.
The caterpillar is blackish-brown with a red spiracular line with white dots. It feeds on moorland plants like bog myrtle and bilberry. Recorded foodplants include Myrica
Myrica
Myrica is a genus of about 35–50 species of small trees and shrubs in the family Myricaceae, order Fagales. The genus has a wide distribution, including Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America, and missing only from Australasia...
, Calluna
Calluna
Calluna vulgaris is the sole species in the genus Calluna in the family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing perennial shrub growing to tall, or rarely to and taller, and is found widely in Europe and Asia Minor on acidic soils in open sunny situations and in moderate shade...
, Vaccinium
Vaccinium
Vaccinium is a genus of shrubs or dwarf shrubs in the plant Family Ericaceae. The fruit of many species are eaten by humans and some are of commercial importance, including the cranberry, blueberry, bilberry or whortleberry, lingonberry or cowberry, and huckleberry...
, Salix, Betula, Ranunculus aconitifolius
Ranunculus aconitifolius
Ranunculus aconitifolius is a species of herbaceous perennials of the genus Ranunculus in the family Ranunculaceae.The leaves and stems are slightly hairy...
, Comarum palustre, Lysimachia nummularia
Lysimachia nummularia
Lysimachia nummularia is a low, creeping plant of the genus Lysimachia. It is commonly called Creeping Jenny, Moneywort, Herb Twopence and Twopenny grass.-Distribution:...
and Menyanthes trifoliata.
- The flight season refers to the British IslesBritish IslesThe British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
. This may vary in other parts of the range.