Noctuidae : Cucullinae
Scarce Wormwood
CUCULLIA (Cucullia) artemisiae (Hufnagel, 1766)
Scarce Wormwood
CUCULLIA (Cucullia) artemisiae (Hufnagel, 1766)
Life Cycle Guide - Europe
Description
Wingspan: 37-40mm
Worldwide Distribution: Europe - excluding (Azores,Balearic Is.,Canary Is.,Channel is.,Corsica,Crete,Cyprus,Greece,Ireland,Luxembourg, Madeira,Malta,Norway,Sardinia & Sicily) eastwards to Korean Peninsula & Japan,western Siberia to Manchuria : Turkey : C Asia
UK Distribution: One reared from unknown larva in 1971, so very rare migrant
UK Conservation Status -
Habitat: Herbaceous edges : Sandy Grassland : Fallow Land : Forest Edges
Similar Species -
Pupa: Pupates overwinter in cocoon beneath soil
Overwinters as: Pupa
Observations: This moth is either a rare migrant or possibly a import as a larva found on Mugwort in September 1971 in Essex was reared and confirmed to be a male of the species. The only other British records were six individuals from the 19th century where two were supposedly found on a fence in Devon on 21 August 1885 which were possibly imported as larvae.Four were were reported in 1900 as having been found in different collections on Wormwood but without data.
The moth is recorded in Europe eastwards into Asia.
The moth is grey with serrated antemedian and postmedian cross lines and strongly marked reniform stigmata and orbicular spots often edged in black with varying amounts of white adding highlight to these features.Termen made up of a series of dark grey squares with dark grey shading adjacent to the termen.The large wings have a straight costa rounded towards the apex with rounded termen crating a pointed apex. Moth quite unmistakable.
Worldwide Distribution: Europe - excluding (Azores,Balearic Is.,Canary Is.,Channel is.,Corsica,Crete,Cyprus,Greece,Ireland,Luxembourg, Madeira,Malta,Norway,Sardinia & Sicily) eastwards to Korean Peninsula & Japan,western Siberia to Manchuria : Turkey : C Asia
UK Distribution: One reared from unknown larva in 1971, so very rare migrant
UK Conservation Status -
- Rare Migrant
- Europe - Endangered due to the almost complete destruction of the disturbed land edges (integration in the fields or intensive mowing) and the decline in sandy grasslands.
- Phalaena artemisiae (Hufnagel, 1766)
- Phalaena umbratica (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Berlin Region
Habitat: Herbaceous edges : Sandy Grassland : Fallow Land : Forest Edges
Similar Species -
- Wormwood - Cucullia absinthii - (Linnaeus, 1761)
- Cudweed - Cucullia gnaphalii - (Hübner, [1813])
Pupa: Pupates overwinter in cocoon beneath soil
Overwinters as: Pupa
Observations: This moth is either a rare migrant or possibly a import as a larva found on Mugwort in September 1971 in Essex was reared and confirmed to be a male of the species. The only other British records were six individuals from the 19th century where two were supposedly found on a fence in Devon on 21 August 1885 which were possibly imported as larvae.Four were were reported in 1900 as having been found in different collections on Wormwood but without data.
The moth is recorded in Europe eastwards into Asia.
The moth is grey with serrated antemedian and postmedian cross lines and strongly marked reniform stigmata and orbicular spots often edged in black with varying amounts of white adding highlight to these features.Termen made up of a series of dark grey squares with dark grey shading adjacent to the termen.The large wings have a straight costa rounded towards the apex with rounded termen crating a pointed apex. Moth quite unmistakable.
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.
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.
- Asteraceae - Compositae - Aster-Daisy - Sunflower Family
- Artemisia abrotanum - Southerwood
- Artemesia absinthium - Wormwood
- Artemesia campestris - Field Southerwood
- Artemesia vulgaris - Mugwort
Larval Food Plants
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Taxonomy
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Kingdom:
Subkingdom: Phylum: Subphylum: Class: Order: Superfamily: Family: Subfamily: Genus: Subgenus: Accepted Species Name: Type Species - CUCULLIA: Original Species Name: Species Names: Literary Ref: Type Locality: Subspecies: |
Animalia
Eumetozoa Arthropoda Hexapoda Insecta Lepidoptera Noctuoidea Noctuidae Cuculliinae CUCULLIA Schrank, 1802 culcullia Schrank, 1802 Cucullia (Cucullia) artemisiae (Hufnagel, 1766) - Phalaena umbratica Linnaeus, 1758 - PHALAENA artemisiae (Hufnagel, 1766) = Noctua abrotani Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775 = lindei - Berlin. Magazin. 3 (3) : Title Page : p.292 /3 - n.38 - Berlin Region - C.a.artemisiae (Hufnagel, 1766) - Nominate Subspecies C.a.orientalis Ronkay & Ronkay, 1994 - Altai, Sayan, Transbaikalia, SE.Siberia, Mongolia |