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Catoptria moth

Catoptria sp.

Description:

Caloptria is a genus of small moths from the Crambidae family, most of which are found in Europe. Crambidae are quite variable in appearance. The nominal subfamily Crambinae (grass moths) take up closely folded postures as shown here where they are inconspicuous, most often on grass stems.

Habitat:

Spotted in an alpine meadow in the middle of a forest clearing, alt. 1500m ASL. The flower is Astrantia major, the Great Masterwort.

Notes:

This moth was about 15 mm long with a has a visible snout, and light dusty beige wings with distinctive bluish and brown markings. See Comments for possible species. The last shot shows the habitat for this moth. Spotted in La Pierreuse (meaning "stony place"), a nature reserve in the Swiss Alps.

1 Species ID Suggestions

bayucca
bayucca 11 years ago
Crambid Moth
Catoptria sp. Catoptria


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12 Comments

DanielePralong
DanielePralong 11 years ago

Thank you bayucca! As these are quite location specific.... I have narrowed it down to possibly 7 (osthelderi, permutallus, speculalis, conchella, pinella, falsella and myella), but I am not 100% convinced any any of them. Also, for many I can't find any pictorial or clear descriptive information. So I will leave it as Catoptria sp. at this stage. I spotted a similar one with different markings about 5 K away, which I still have to upload. Thanks again!

bayucca
bayucca 11 years ago

Crambidae, Crambinae, Captoptria sp., there are about 50 species! Sorry, can't get closer, too tricky.

DanielePralong
DanielePralong 11 years ago

Thank you Atul!

Atul
Atul 11 years ago

wow lovely!

DanielePralong
DanielePralong 11 years ago

Satyen, Jacob, Lars, thanks! Lars, thank you for the hint, I am checking...

LarsKorb
LarsKorb 11 years ago

Nemophora sp. ?

Jacob Gorneau
Jacob Gorneau 11 years ago

Beautiful, Daniele!

Wild Things
Wild Things 11 years ago

Seems like a paradise for human beings too :-)

DanielePralong
DanielePralong 11 years ago

Thank you Satyen! A paradise for plants and insects for sure.

Wild Things
Wild Things 11 years ago

Lovely place :-)

DanielePralong
DanielePralong 11 years ago

Sorry Satyen, I have now uploaded it, together with a second shot for the moth (I had the same shot twice...)

Wild Things
Wild Things 11 years ago

Lovely spotting, great colours. I don't think I can see the habitat :-)

DanielePralong
Spotted by
DanielePralong

Rougemont, Vaud, Switzerland

Spotted on Jul 24, 2012
Submitted on Jul 29, 2012

Related Spottings

Western Catoptria Pearl Grass-veneer Three-spotted Crambus Grass Moth

Nearby Spottings

Pearl-bordered Fritillary Crambid moth Great yellow gentian Log-horned beetle/Blaubock

Reference

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