Common swift moth

Common swift
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Hepialidae
Genus:	Korscheltellus
Species:	K. lupulina
Binomial name
	Korscheltellus lupulina; (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
	Noctua lupulinus Linnaeus, 1758; Hepialus lupulinus (Linnaeus, 1758); Pharmacis lupulina (Linnaeus, 1758);

The common swift (Korscheltellus lupulina) is a moth of the family Hepialidae. It was previously placed in the genus Hepialus. It is a common, often abundant European species. The species was described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.

Mounted

Caterpillar

Description

The male has a wingspan of about 30 mm with dark brown forewings with white apical and basal streaks meeting to make a "V" shape with another spot close to the costa. The hindwings are plain brown. The female is larger (wingspan about 40 mm) with similar patterning to the male but generally paler and less distinct. A significant proportion of individuals of both sexes are plain buff or brown with no pattern. The adults fly from May to July^[1] and are attracted to light. The species overwinters as a larva.

The larvae feed underground on the roots of a wide variety of plants (see list below) and can be an agricultural pest.

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

Recorded food plants

Allium – garlic
Apium - celery
Brassica
Chrysanthemum
Dahlia
Daucus – carrot
Fragaria – strawberry
Helianthus – Jerusalem artichoke
Humulus – hop
Lactuca – lettuce
Lycopersicon – tomato
Medicago – alfalfa
Narcissus – daffodil^[1]
Pastinaca – parsnip
Phaseolus – bean
Pisum – pea
Poaceae – grasses
Ribes – currant
Rubus – berries
Solanum – potato

Etymology

Previously placed in the genus Hepialus – from the Greek; hēpialos – meaning a fever, as in 'the fitful, alternating flight' of the moth. It has since been allocated to the genus Korscheltellus.^{[clarification needed]} Carl Linnaeus originally gave the moth the specific name lupulinus in affinity with the ghost moth (Hepialus humuli). Humulus is the genus for hops and Linnaeus wrongly thought that the ghost moth fed on the roots of hops; he was not aware of the actual footplant of the common swift.^[2]

References

^ MAFF 1970.
^ Emmet, A Maitland (1991). The Scientific Names of the British Lepidoptera. Their history and meaning. Colchester: Harley Books. p. 42. ISBN 0-946589-35-6.

Bibliography

"Narcissus pests, 6th ed" (PDF). Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Bulletin (51). 1970. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
Chinery, Michael (1986, reprinted 1991). Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe.
Skinner, Bernard (1984). The Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles.

External links

Kimber, Ian. "3.002 BF17 Common Swift Korscheltellus lupulina (Linnaeus, 1758)". UKMoths. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
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[FOOTNOTEMAFF1970-1] MAFF 1970.

[2] Emmet, A Maitland (1991). The Scientific Names of the British Lepidoptera. Their history and meaning. Colchester: Harley Books. p. 42. ISBN 0-946589-35-6.

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