Apamea anceps

Apamea anceps
File:Apamea anceps.jpg
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Hexapoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Noctuidae
Tribe:	Apameini
Genus:	Apamea
Species:	A. anceps
Binomial name
Apamea anceps (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775)
Synonyms
Noctua anceps Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775 Phalaena (Noctua) sordida Borkhausen, 1792 Apamea infesta Ochsenheimer, 1816 Caradrina renardii Boisduval, 1829 Hadena engelhardtii Duurloo, 1889 Luceria pyxina A. Bang-Haas, 1910 Enargia siegeli Berio, 1985 Apamea pyxina sassanidica Hacker, 1990 Apamea anceps mazeli Lutran, 1993 Arenostola pyxina

The Large Nutmeg (Apamea anceps) is a moth of the Noctuidae family.

Geography

The Large Nutmeg is distributed throughout Europe and through the Palearctic to Yakutia, Transbaikalia, Lebanon , Armenia, Asia Minor, Irana, Mongolia East Siberia, China (Shaanxi) and Japan. It is also found in North West Africa.

Description

See glossary for terms used

The wingspan is 35–40 mm. Forewing grey speckled with darker, and more or less tinged with brown; the veins dark; inner and outer lines double, dark filled in with pale ground colour, conversely lunulate-dentate; the inner line sometimes forming a sharp outward angle below vein 1, meeting the median line, sometimes rounded ami remote from it: claviform brown, darker-edged, variable in size, often quite small; orbicular and reniform pale with dark centres, the latter with white dotted annulus and often followed by a pale patch; marginal area dark grey beyond the pale submarginal line, which is preceded by brownish patches at costa and on both folds: hindwing dirty whitish, with darker cellspot, veins, and outer line, the terminal area diffusely fuscous, with the submarginal line showing paler along termen; in typical sordida the brown tints are confined to the two folds: -in anceps Hbn. these brown tints pervade more or less the whole forewing: - ochracea Tutt has the ground colour paler and the suffusion more rufous brown;renardii Bsd. is a very pale form with the markings subobsolete; while engelhartii Duurloo represents a renardii pale form from E. Jutland with indistinct markings; - ab. mediana ab. nov. [Warren] appears very distinct; the brown grey ground colour is without dark speckling; the inner and outer lines are single, black and distinct, the outer with clear black teeth on the veins; the median shade, generally inconspicuous, is thick and black, distinctly angled outwards on subcostal and veins 1 and 2; the space between it and outer line deeper brown: the markings of the hindwing clearer; the male specimen from Germany without precise locality.

Adults are on wing from June to July.

Larvae

The larvae feed on the flowers and leaves of various grasses, including Poa annua and Dactylis glomerata.

External links

• Lepiforum Includes photo of genitalia
• Funet Taxonomy
• Fauna Europaea
• UKmoths