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Noctuidae : Acronictinae

Alder Moth

ACRONICTA (Jocheaera) alni (Linnaeus, 1767)
Picture
Life Cycle Guide
Picture
Description
Wingspan: 35-42mm
Worldwide Distribution: Europe - less Greece,Portugal,N Russia & most Mediterranean Islands : Caucasus : Urals : southern Siberia :  Transbaikalia : Russian Far East : China : Japan : Korean Peninsula
UK Distribution: England & Wales - Thinly distributed : Ireland - widely distributed but local : SW Scotland & Isle of Man - recorded (MGBI)
UK Conservation Status:
  • Local = 101 - 300  10km squares
European Conservation Status -
  • Least Concern
Original Species Name -
  • Phalaena (Noctua) alni (Linnaeus, 1767)
Type Species - Acronicta
  • Phalana leporina (Linnaeus, 1758)
Type Locality -
  • Europe (LS London) - in Acere, Æsculo, Juglande (The Acer,Oak,Walnut)
Flight Period: South - May - late July : Elsewhere - May - June
Habitat: Broadleaved Woodland : Scrub
Similar Species -
  • None
Larva: The stunning 35mm final instar larva is black with dorsal yellow bands on each abdominal segment. The setae are glossy black,long and clubbed.Head is black.The early stage larva gives the appearance of a bird dropping.
Pupa: Pupate in a cocoon formed in rotten wood
Overwinters as: Pupa
Observations: This unusually marked moth is easy to identify with its blacking clouding which traverses along the body from the base as a black bar,extending outwards at the median area finishing at the terminal area as a long thick dagger mark. The subterminal line in fine black and waves across the forewing in the form of an extended "S".The black clouding varies considerably and in extreme cases entirely covers the forewing.The hindwing is white.

The moth is attracted to light
Photo Gallery
Larval Food Plants Worldwide
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.
Larval Food Plants
Taxonomy
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Type Species - ACRONICTA:

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Forms:
Animalia
Eumetozoa
Arthropoda
Hexapoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Noctuoidea
Noctuidae
Acronictinae
ACRONICTA Ochsenheimer, 1816
Jocheaera Hübner,[1820]
Acronicta (Jocheaera) alni (Linnaeus, 1767)
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Phalana leporina (Linnaeus, 1758)
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PHALAENA (Noctua) alni (Linnaeus, 1767)
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Syst. Nat. (Edn 12) 1 (2):  Title page : p.845 - n.134
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Europe - (LS London) in Acere, Æsculo, Juglande (The Acer,Oak,Walnut)
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A.a. intensiva Draudt, 1937
A.a. italica Berio, 1961
A.a. korealni Bryk, 1948
A.a. alni (Linnaeus, 1767) - Nomnate subspecies
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A.a.f.suffusa Tutt - pale patches dark as rest of forewing
A.a.f. steinerti Cusp - dark brownish-grey
A.a.f. carola Phil - intermeidate form
A.s.f. obsoluta Tutt - reniform stigmata very feint