Xestia speciosa
Encyclopedia
Xestia speciosa is a moth
of the Noctuidae
family. It is found in northern Europe, including Fennoscandia
, the Baltic region
, parts of Russia
and further through northern Asia to the Pacific Ocean
and Japan
. It is also found in the mountainous areas of central and southern Europe. It is also present in north-western North America
.
Some authors treat Xestia apropitia as a valid species, while Mikkola, Lafontaine and Kononenko (1996) placed it as a subspecies of Xestia speciosa.
The wingspan
of ssp. speciosa is 38-50 mm. Subspecies arctica has a wingspan of 36-45 mm. Adults are on wing from June to August in one generation.
The larvae feed on various low-growing plants, including Vaccinium myrtillus
,
Lonicera nigra and Betula nana.
. The other listed subspecies need further study to confirm their status. Xestia viridescens is sometimes included here as another subspecies.
Generally accepted
Disputed
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 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....
family. It is found in northern Europe, including Fennoscandia
Fennoscandia
Fennoscandia and Fenno-Scandinavia are geographic and geological terms used to describe the Scandinavian Peninsula, the Kola Peninsula, Karelia and Finland...
, the Baltic region
Baltic region
The terms Baltic region, Baltic Rim countries, and Baltic Rim refer to slightly different combinations of countries in the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea.- Etymology :...
, parts of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and further through northern Asia to the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. It is also found in the mountainous areas of central and southern Europe. It is also present in north-western North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
Some authors treat Xestia apropitia as a valid species, while Mikkola, Lafontaine and Kononenko (1996) placed it as a subspecies of Xestia speciosa.
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...
of ssp. speciosa is 38-50 mm. Subspecies arctica has a wingspan of 36-45 mm. Adults are on wing from June to August in one generation.
The larvae feed on various low-growing plants, including Vaccinium myrtillus
Vaccinium myrtillus
Vaccinium myrtillus is an almost Holarctic species of shrub with edible fruit, usually simply referred to as "bilberry" or "whortleberry". It is more precidely called Common Bilberry or Blue Whortleberry, to distinguish it from its Vaccinium relatives...
,
Lonicera nigra and Betula nana.
Subspecies
Note that only speciosa, arctica and modesta are confirmed subspeciesSubspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
. The other listed subspecies need further study to confirm their status. Xestia viridescens is sometimes included here as another subspecies.
Generally accepted
- Xestia speciosa speciosa (Hübner, 1813) (Germany)
- Xestia speciosa modesta (Alps)
- Xestia speciosa arctica (Zetterstedt 1839) (northern Europe, northern Canada south to the northern parts of the mountains in Alberta)
Disputed
- Xestia speciosa aegrota (Alpheraky 1897) (Siberia, northern Mongolia)
- Xestia speciosa aklavikensis (Nearctic)
- Xestia speciosa apropitia (Benjamin, 1933) (Colorado)
- Xestia speciosa baltica (Valle 1940)
- Xestia speciosa janae Herz, 1903
- Xestia speciosa livalis (Nearctic)
- Xestia speciosa mixta
- Xestia speciosa rybatchiensis Kotzsch 1934
- Xestia speciosa ussurica (north-eastern Siberia to Korea and Japan)