Hepialidae
Common Swift
KORSCHELTELLUS lupulina (Linnaeus, 1758)
Common Swift
KORSCHELTELLUS lupulina (Linnaeus, 1758)
Life Cycle Guide
Description
Wingspan: Male 25-33mm Female 32-40mm
Worldwide Distribution: Europe - excluding (Estonia,Slovenia & Most Mediterranean Islands)
UK Distribution: Mainland Britain,Scilly Isles,Isle of Man,Channel Isles - Common in most parts but more local further north : Scotland - local : Ireland - very local and coastal
UK Conservation Status -
Habitat: Open Grassland : Gardens : Roadside Verges : Heathland : Moorland
Similar Species -
Pupa: Pupates underground
Overwinters as: Larva
Observations: Wing markings of the male vary greatly both in colour raging from whiteish to pale brown to grey and intensity from strongly marked individuals to plain with no markings.The white lines emanating from the basal and termen areas form an inverted letter "V" on the forewing.
Females are slightly larger with wing markings much less marked than the male.
The Common Swift as the name suggests is the most common of the Swift Moths and is regularly encountered near any light source like security lights or underpass.
Worldwide Distribution: Europe - excluding (Estonia,Slovenia & Most Mediterranean Islands)
UK Distribution: Mainland Britain,Scilly Isles,Isle of Man,Channel Isles - Common in most parts but more local further north : Scotland - local : Ireland - very local and coastal
UK Conservation Status -
- Common = > 300 10km squares
- Least Concern
- Phalaena (Noctua) lupulina (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Phalaena lupulina (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Europe
Habitat: Open Grassland : Gardens : Roadside Verges : Heathland : Moorland
Similar Species -
- None - easy to identify
Pupa: Pupates underground
Overwinters as: Larva
Observations: Wing markings of the male vary greatly both in colour raging from whiteish to pale brown to grey and intensity from strongly marked individuals to plain with no markings.The white lines emanating from the basal and termen areas form an inverted letter "V" on the forewing.
Females are slightly larger with wing markings much less marked than the male.
The Common Swift as the name suggests is the most common of the Swift Moths and is regularly encountered near any light source like security lights or underpass.
Photo Gallery
Larval Food Plants Worldwide
Note - larvae feed on roots of larval plants listed below
Note - larvae feed on roots of larval plants listed below
Note - Plants hyperlinked in red below take the visitor to the relevant plant page on"Plants for a Future" website
where further information like photos,physical
characteristics,habitats,edible uses,medicinal
uses,cultivation,propagation,range,height etc. are clearly listed.
- Plant Families - in bold red below takes the visitor to the relevant "Lepi-plants" page where other butterflies & moths using the plants below are listed.
- Alliaceae - Allium Family
- Allium sativum - Garlic, Cultivated Garlic
- Apiaceae - Umbelliferae - Umbellifer Family
- Apium graveolens - Wild Celery
- Daucus carota - Wild Carrot (UK)
- Pastinaca sativa - Wild Parsnip
- Asteraceae - Compositae - Aster-Daisy - Sunflower Family
- Helianthus tuberosus - Jeruslalem Artichoke
- Lactuca sativa - Lettuce
- Brassicaceae - Mustards - Mustard Flowers - Cabbage Family
- Brassica napus - Rape - Colza
- Cannabidaceae - Hemp/Hop Family
- Humulus lupulus - Hop
- Fabaceae - Leguminosea - The Pulse - Bean - Pea - Legume Family
- Psium sativum - Garden Pea
- Solanaceae - Bedstraw Family
- Solanum tuberosum - Potato
- Note - Larvae also feed on the following plant families
- Asteraceae - Compositae - Dahlia
- Grossulariaceae - Ribes - Currants
- Rosaceae - Fragaria - Strawberry, Rubus - Raspberry,Blackberry etc
- Note - Larvae also feed on the following plant families
- Solanum tuberosum - Potato
Larval Food Plants
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Taxonomy
Kingdom:
Subkingdom: Phylum: Subphylum Class: Order: Superfamily: Family: Genus: Accepted Species Name: Type Species - KORSCHELTELLUS: Original Species: Species Names: Literary Ref: Type Locality: Forms: Subspecies: |
Animalia
Eumetozoa Arthropoda Hexapoda Insecta Lepidoptera Hepialoidea Hepialidae KORSCHELTELLUS Börner,1920 Korscheltellus lupulina (Linnaeus, 1758) - Phalaena lupulina (Linnaeus, 1758) - Phalaena (Noctua) lupulina (Linnaeus, 1758) = Hepialus lupulinus (Linnaeus, 1758) = Pharmacis lupulina (Linnaeus, 1758) - Syst.Nat. (Edn 10) 1 : Title page : p.508 - n.63 - Europe - K.l.f.reducta van de Pol, 1961 - forewing spots reduced K.l.f.continua van de Pol, 1961 - spots merge K.l.f.obscura van de Pol, 1961 - darker K.l.f. pallida Lempke, 1961 - lighter - K.l.dacicus Caradja, 1893 - forewing dark grey,markings reducedv-Romania,Hungary,Dalmatia,S Germany |