Acronicta cuspis

Acronicta cuspis, the large dagger, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is distributed through most of Europe, Northern Africa (Morocco), the European part of Russia, the Caucasus, the Russian Far East (Primorye, southern Khabarovsk, southern Amur region), southern Siberia, Transcaucasia, central Asia, China, Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu) and the Korean Peninsula.

Acronicta cuspis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Superfamily: Noctuoidea
Family: Noctuidae
Genus: Acronicta
Species:
A. cuspis
Binomial name
Acronicta cuspis
(Hübner, 1813)
Synonyms
  • Noctua cuspis Hubner,[1813]

Technical description and variation
For a key to the terms used, see Glossary of entomology terms.

Like A. psi L., but paler, bluer grey; the black streaks thicker; stigmata united by a short black bar. leucocuspis Btlr., occurring in North China, Japan and Corea is larger and darker in tint. — taurica Stgr., on the contrary, is a much paler form, with the stigmata far apart, queried by Staudinger as possibly a distinct species. — Larva like that of psi, but the fleshy process on segment 5 bears a long tuft of black. [1]The wingspan is 37–41 mm.

Biology

The larvae feed on a number of plants, including alder, grey alder, rowan, silver birch and downy birch.

References
  1. 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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