Ghost Moth

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Ghost Moth
Gosth Moth on a Faroe stamp
Gosth Moth on a Faroe stamp
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Hepialidae
Genus: Hepialus
Species: H. humuli
Binomial name
Hepialus humuli
(Linnaeus, 1758)

The Ghost Moth (Hepialus humuli), also known as the Ghost Swift, is a moth of the family Hepialidae. It is common throughout Europe except for the far south-east. This species is now considered the only species in the genus Hepialus which previously included several other species now reclassified into other genera.

The male has a wingspan of about 44 mm and both forewings and hindwings are pure white (although in H. h. thulensis, found in Shetland and the Faroe Islands, there are buff-coloured individuals). The female is larger (wingspan about 48 mm) and has yellowish-buff forewings with darker linear markings and brown hindwings. The adults fly in June and July [1] and are attracted to light. The species overwinters as a larva.

The Ghost Moth gets its name from the display flight of the male, which hovers, sometimes slowly rising and falling, over open ground to attract females. In a suitable location several males may display together in a lek.

The larva is whitish and maggot-like and feeds underground on the roots of a variety of wild and cultivated plants (see list below). The species can be an economically significant pest in forest nurseries.

The term ghost moth is sometimes used as a general term for all Hepialids.

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

Contents

[edit] Recorded food plants

[edit] Species previously included in the genus Hepialus

Species previously placed in the genus Hepialus include:

  • Hepialus behrensii (Stretch, 1872) now Phymatopus behrensii
  • Hepialus californicus Boisduval, 1868, now Phymatopus californicus
  • Hepialus gracilis Grote, 1864, now Korscheltellus gracilis
  • Hepialus hecta (Linnaeus, 1758), now Phymatopus hecta
  • Hepialus hectoides Boisduval, 1868, now Phymatopus hectoides
  • Hepialus lupulinus (Linnaeus, 1758), now Korscheltellus lupulina
  • Hepialus montanus (Stretch, 1872) now Phymatopus behrensii
  • Hepialus mustelinus Packard, 1864
  • Hepialus sequoiolus, now Phymatopus californicus sequoiolus
  • Hepialus virescens (Doubleday), now Aenetus virescens

[edit] References

  • Chinery, Michael Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe 1986 (Reprinted 1991)
  • Skinner, Bernard Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles 1984

[edit] External links

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