Acronicta alni

Acronicta alni
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Noctuidae
Genus: Acronicta
Species: A. alni
Binomial name
Acronicta alni
(Linnaeus, 1767)
Synonyms
  • Phalaena alni (Linnaeus, 1767)

The Alder Moth (Acronicta alni) is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in Europe (from southern Fennoscandia to Spain, Italy and the Balkans), Turkey, the European part of Russia and the neighbouring countries, the Caucasus, the Ural, southern Siberia, Transbaikalia, the Russian Far East (Primorye, Sakhalin, southern Kuriles, Khabarovsk and the Amur region), China, Japan (Hokkaido and Honshu) and the Korean Peninsula.

The wingspan is 33-38 mm. The adults fly at night from May to June [1] and are attracted to light.

The larva when young resembles a bird dropping at first. When mature the larva is black and yellow with a number of hairs. It feeds on a number of different trees, particularly Alder and Birch.

  1. ^ The flight season refers to the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range.