Kingdom Animalia Family Noctuidae Genus Dichonia Order Butterflies and moths | Class Insecta Phylum Arthropoda Rank Species | |
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Similar Dichonia, Butterflies and moths, Lithophane ornitopus, Xanthia togata, Satellite | ||
Dichonia aprilina, the merveille du jour, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It ranges from Sardinia and south-east Russia (foothills of the Ural mountains to the Black Sea) from the southernmost part of Norway and Saint Petersburg through northern and central Europe to southern France and northern Italy, as well as in Castile. Also in western and central Anatolia and the Caucasus. Also in Asia minor. There is recent evidence from the Alborz mountain range.
Contents
Technical description and variation
Forewing whitish green; lines and markings velvety black, the median shade especially thick; upper stigmata large; all the black markings emphasised by white; hindwing blackish grey; the cellspot, outer line, and submarginal shade darker; a white terminal space before the black marginal line; the ab. bouveti Lucas, from France, has the head, thorax, and forewings greener, the median area of forewing without black markings.
Biology
The moth flies in September and October.
Larva greenish black, with a fulvous tinge; a dorsal series of dark medallions; dorsal line pale, interrupted, with black edges; spiracular line pale like the venter.The larvae feed internally on the flowers and leaves of oak trees.
