Acontia lucida

Acontia lucida, the pale shoulder, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel in 1766.[2]

Acontia lucida
Dorsal view
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Superfamily: Noctuoidea
Family: Noctuidae
Genus: Acontia
Species:
A. lucida
Binomial name
Acontia lucida
(Hufnagel, 1766)
Synonyms[1]
List
  • Phalaena lucida Hufnagel, 1766
  • Noctua solaris [Schiffermüller], 1775
  • Noctua albicollis Fabricius, 1781
  • Phalaena Noctua rupicola Borkhausen, 1792
  • Noctua insolatrix Hübner, [1822]
  • Acontia triradiata Walker, [1858]
  • Acontia lucida var. triangulum Costa, 1882
  • Acontia lucida var. lugens Alpheraky, 1889
  • Acontia lucida f. mediofasciata Stauder, 1923
  • Tarache (Acontia) lucida var. heliodora Schawerda, 1924

Distribution and habitat

This species can be found in most of Europe, east to Turkey, Iran and India. It has also been recorded from Algeria. It is a rare migrant to the south coast of Great Britain.[3][4] The pale shoulder can be found in grasslands, dry meadows, steppes, dunes and roadsides, where the host plants are present.

Description
Lateral view

The wingspan of Acontia lucida can reach 26–30 mm. Head, thorax and abdomen are white. The forewings show a greyish-white front part and a wide dark brown median band, dark mottled and marbled, larger in the centre. A white mark is present on the outer edge of the forewings, while a brown mark is close to the apex. Hindwings are whitish fuscous, with a brown band near the apex. Larvae are green or brown, with transversal whitish bands.[5]

Biology

The larvae are polyphagous, feeding on various herbaceous plants, mainly on mallow (Malva species), common marshmallow (Althaea officinalis), field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), goosefoots (Chenopodium) and dandelion (Taraxacum). Adults are on the wing on sunny days in May and August in two generations.[4] They are attracted to light. This species overwinters as pupa below ground. Rarely it is a migrant species.[6]

Mounted specimen

References
  1. Savela, Markku, ed. (31 May 2020). "Acontia lucida (Hufnagel, 1766)". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  2. "Pale Shoulder Acontia lucida (Hufnagel, 1766)". BioLib. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  3. Fauna Europaea
  4. Kimber, Ian. "73.028 BF2415 Pale Shoulder Acontia lucida (Hufnagel, 1766)". UKMoths. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  5. Watson, L. & Dallwitz, M. J. "Acontia Ochsenheimer". British Insects: the Genera of Lepidoptera-Noctuidae. Archived 25 July 2008.
  6. "Acontia lucida (Hufnagel, 1766)". Lepidoptera and Their Ecology. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
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