Eublemma minutata, the scarce marbled, is a species of moth of the family Erebidae. It can be found everywhere in Europe, except for Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the northern part of Russia and various islands.[1] In Asia, it can be found only in Lebanon.

Scarce marbled
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Superfamily: Noctuoidea
Family: Erebidae
Genus: Eublemma
Species:
E. minutata
Binomial name
Eublemma minutata
(Fabricius, 1794)
Synonyms
  • Thalpochares paula
  • Porphyrinia noctualis

The wingspan is 13–15 millimetres (0.51–0.59 in).Meyrick describes it thus Head and thorax white. Forewings ochreous-white, suffused with light grey except towards base and along costa; median shade straight, ochreous-grey; second line straight, whitish, with a small angular median projection, posteriorly edged with ochreous-grey suffusion; subterminal obscurely whitish, followed by a darker grey costal spot. Hindwings fuscous-whitish, becoming fuscous posteriorly.[2]

The moths are active day and night and fly in July and August. They occasionally visit the flowers of Helichrysum arenarium or fly short distances in the sunshine. At night they appear to artificial light sources , even occasionally to baits . The caterpillars live from May to June on Helichrysum arenarium and feed preferably on their flowers, shoot tips and fruit stalks. They like to hide in a whitish web below the flower head.

References edit

  1. ^ "Eublemma minutata (Fabricius, 1794)". Fauna Europaea. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015.
  2. ^ Meyrick, E., 1895 A Handbook of British Lepidoptera MacMillan, London pdf   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

External links edit