True Lover's Knot
| True Lover's Knot | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Noctuidae |
| Genus: | Lycophotia |
| Species: | L. porphyrea |
| Binomial name | |
| Lycophotia porphyrea (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775) | |
| Synonyms | |
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The True Lover's Knot (Lycophotia porphyrea) is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in the west Palearctic in a wide band through North, Central and Eastern Europe and Russia (up to the Ural mountains). In the South it is spread through northern Spain and Northern Portugal, Northern Italy, Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Northern Greece . In Europe it is found wherever its food plants grow. It is traditionally thought of as a species of heathland and moorland but it can often be found in places where heather and its relatives are in garden cultivation.In the mountains it is found up to an altitude of over 2000 metres a.s.l.
This is a small but attractive species, with a wingspan of 26–34 mm (individuals hatched in higher altitudes tend to be smaller than those from the lowlands). The forewings are brown, often tinged with purple and marked with a complex pattern of white markings which are supposed to recall a true lover's knot. The hindwings are grey or buff. It flies from the latter half of June to the beginning of August[1] and is attracted to light and the flowers of its food plants.
The larva is reddish-brown with pale lines and feeds on heather and related genera (e.g. Erica).[2] The species overwinters as a larva.
References
External links
- Lepiforum
- Funet Taxonomy
- Fauna Europaea
Reading
- Chinery, Michael Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe 1986 (Reprinted 1991)
- Skinner, Bernard Colour Identification Guide to the Moths of the British Isles 1984