Kingdom Animalia Family Noctuidae Scientific name Mesoligia furuncula Rank Species | Class Insecta Genus Mesoligia Phylum Arthropoda Order Butterflies and moths | |
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Similar Mesoligia, Butterflies and moths, Oligia fasciuncula, Marbled minor, Tawny Marbled Minor | ||
The cloaked minor (Mesoligia furuncula) is a moth of the family Noctuoidea. It is found in the Palearctic ecozone (Europe, north-west Africa, Russia, Siberia, Japan, north Iran, Afghanistan and China (Qinghai, Shaanxi).
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Description
The wingspan is 22–28 mm. The length of the forewings is 10–12 mm. The typical form has the forewing sharply demarcated between a pale distal field and a rufous basal field. The colour and pattern is highly variable and furuncula may look like a lot of the species in the genus Oligia which can be separated by from all but Mesoligia literosa by details of the genitalia. A study of the genitalia of European and Asian specimens of the two Mesoligia species literosa Haworth and furuncula Denis & Schiffermüller showed however that there is no significant intra-specific variation, in these two closely related Oligia species.
Biology
The moth flies in one generation from late June to mid September [2].
The larvae feed on various grasses such as Tufted Hair-grass, Festuca ovina, and Arrhenatherum elatius.
