Periphanes is a monotypic moth genus of the family Noctuidae first described by Jacob Hübner in 1821.[1] Its only species, Periphanes delphinii, the pease blossom, was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.[2] It can be found from Afghanistan and the steppe areas of Central Asia and Anatolia up to the area surrounding the Mediterranean Sea and north-western Africa.

Periphanes
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Superfamily: Noctuoidea
Family: Noctuidae
Subfamily: Heliothinae
Genus: Periphanes
Hübner, 1821
Species:
P. delphinii
Binomial name
Periphanes delphinii
Synonyms
  • Chariclea
Illustration from John Curtis's British Entomology Volume 5

Description

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Pair of spines on tibia stout and more crooked, where the inner very long. Mid and hind tibia spineless. Forewings with more or less acute apex.[3]

Technical description and variation

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Chariclea delphinii L. (501). Male forewing purplish pink, paler along outer margin and fringe, deepest in basal area and beyond middle; basal area edged by a pale and pink trilobed line; orbicular stigma ochreous, obscure; reniform large, irregular, edged with brownish purple, attached to the median shade, which with the double postmedian line and space beyond forms an irregular darker band; hindwing dirty ochreous, with fuscous veins and border, the extreme margin pink. Female darker, with a grey suffusion over both wings. — the form darollesi Oberth. (50 .) found in Algeria, Armenia, and W. Turkestan is much paler. — Larva violet grey; dorsal line black edged with yellow; sublateral bands broadly yellow; thoracic plate black, anal plate yellow; the whole body studded with black tubercles.[4] The wingspan is 30–36 millimetres (1.2–1.4 in).

Biology

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The moths fly from May to June.

The larvae primarily feed on Delphinium consolida and Aconitum napellus.

References

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  1. ^ Savela, Markku. "Periphanes Hübner, 1821". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  2. ^ Savela, Markku. "Periphanes delphinii (Linnaeus, 1758)". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  3. ^ Hampson, G. F. (1894). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma: Moths Volume II. Taylor & Francis – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  4. ^ Warren. W. in Seitz, A. Ed., 1914 Die Großschmetterlinge der Erde, Verlag Alfred Kernen, Stuttgart Band 3: Abt. 1, Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen eulenartigen Nachtfalter, 1914  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
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