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The Ghost Moth (Hepialus humuli), also known as the Ghost Swift, is a moth
Moth

A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the Order Lepidoptera. The differences between butterflies and moths are more than just taxonomy....
 of the family Hepialidae
Hepialidae

The Hepialidae is a Scientific classification of insects in the lepidopteran Scientific classification. Moths of this family are often referred to as swift moths or ghost moths....
. It is common throughout Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 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
Wingspan

The wingspan of an fixed-wing aircraft or a bird, is the distance from the left wingtip to the right wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about 60 m ....
 of about 44 mm and both forewings and hindwings are pure white (although in H.






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Encyclopedia


The Ghost Moth (Hepialus humuli), also known as the Ghost Swift, is a moth
Moth

A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the Order Lepidoptera. The differences between butterflies and moths are more than just taxonomy....
 of the family Hepialidae
Hepialidae

The Hepialidae is a Scientific classification of insects in the lepidopteran Scientific classification. Moths of this family are often referred to as swift moths or ghost moths....
. It is common throughout Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 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
Wingspan

The wingspan of an fixed-wing aircraft or a bird, is the distance from the left wingtip to the right wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about 60 m ....
 of about 44 mm and both forewings and hindwings are pure white (although in H. h. thulensis, found in Shetland and the Faroe Islands
Faroe Islands

The Faroe Islands or Faeroe Islands or simply Faroe or Faeroes are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately half way between Scotland and Iceland....
, 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 and are attracted to light. The species overwinters as a larva
Larva

A larva is a young form of animal with indirect developmental biology, going through or undergoing metamorphosis .The larva can look completely different from the adult form, for example, a caterpillar differs from a butterfly....
.

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
Maggot

Maggot is the common name of the larval phase of development in insects of the order Diptera . Sometimes the word is used to denote the larval stage of any insects....
-like and feeds underground on the root
Root

In vascular plants, the root is the organ of a plant body that typically lies below the surface of the soil. This is not always the case, however, since a root can also be aerial root or aerating ....
s of a variety of wild and cultivated plants (see list below). The species can be an economically significant pest in forest nurseries
Nursery (horticulture)

A nursery is a place where plants are plant propagation and grown to usable size. There are retail nurseries which sell to the general public, wholesale nurseries which sell only to...
.

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

  1. The flight season refers to the British Isles
    British Isles

    The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include Great Britain and Ireland, and numerous smaller islands....
    . This may vary in other parts of the range.


Recorded food plants

  • Arctium - Burdock
    Burdock

    Burdock is any of a group of Biennial plant thistles in the genus Arctium, family Asteraceae. Native to the Old World, several species have been widely introduced worldwide....
  • Asparagus
    Asparagus (genus)

    The genus Asparagus in the plant family Asparagaceae comprises up to 300 species. The most well-known species is the edible asparagus, commonly referred to as just asparagus....
  • Beta - Beet
    Beet

    The beet is a plant in the Amaranthaceae. It is best known its numerous cultivated varieties, the most well known of which is probably the red root vegetable known as the garden beet....
  • Brassica
    Brassica

    Brassica is a genus of plants in the mustard family . The members of the genus may be collectively known either as cabbages, or as mustards....
  • Cannabis
    Cannabis sativa

    Cannabis sativa is an annual plant in the Cannabaceae family. It is a herb that has been used throughout recorded history by humans as a source of fiber, for its seed oil, as food , as a drug , as medicine , and for spiritual purposes ....
  • Chrysanthemum
    Chrysanthemum

    Chrysanthemums, often called 'mums', are a genus of about 30 species of perennial plant flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to Asia and northeastern Europe....
  • Dahlia
    Dahlia

    Dahlia is a genus of bushy, tuberous root, perennial plants native to Mexico, Central America, and Colombia. There are at least 36 species of Dahlia....
  • Daucus - Carrot
    Carrot

    The carrot is a root vegetable, usually orange or white, or red-white blend in colour, with a crisp texture when fresh. The edible part of a carrot is a taproot....
  • Fagus - Beech
    Beech

    Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe and North America.The leaf of beech trees are entire or sparsely toothed, from 5–15 cm long and 4–10 cm broad....
  • Fragaria - Strawberry
    Strawberry

    Fragaria is the name of a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, commonly known as strawberries for their edible fruits....
  • Helianthus - Jerusalem artichoke
    Jerusalem artichoke

    The Jerusalem artichoke , also called the sunroot or sunchoke or earth apple or topinambur, is a species of Helianthus native to the eastern United States, from Maine west to North Dakota, and south to northern Florida and Texas....
  • Humulus - Hop
    Hop (plant)

    Humulus, is a small genus of flowering plants, native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The female flowers often called cones, of one species are called hops, and are used as flavoring and Food additive#Categoriess, especially for brewing beer....
  • Lactuca
    Lactuca

    Lactuca, commonly known as lettuce, is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family Asteraceae. The genus includes about 100 species, distributed worldwide, but mainly in temperate Eurasia....
     - Lettuce
  • Pastinaca - Parsnip
    Parsnip

    The parsnip is a root vegetable related to the carrot. Parsnips resemble carrots, but are paler than most of them and have a stronger flavor. Like carrots, parsnips are native to Eurasia and have been eaten there since ancient times....
  • Phaseolus
    Phaseolus

    Phaseolus is a genus in the family Fabaceae of about fifty plant species, all native to the Americas.At least four of the species have been domestication since pre-Columbian times for their beans....
     - Bean
  • Pisum
    Pisum

    Pisum is a genus of the family Fabaceae, native to southwest Asia and northeast Africa. It contains one to five species, depending on taxonomic interpretation; the International Legume Database accepts three species, one with two subspecies :...
     - Pea
  • Poaceae
    Poaceae

    Poaceae or Gramineae is a family in the Class Liliopsida of the Magnoliophyta. Plants of this family are usually called grasses; the shrub- or tree-like plants in this family are called bamboo ....
     - Grasses
  • Quercus - Oak
    Oak

    The term oak can be used as part of the common name of any of about 400 species of trees and shrubs in the genus Quercus , which are listed in the List of Quercus species, and some related genera, notably Lithocarpus....
  • Rumex
    Rumex

    The docks and sorrels, genus Rumex Carolus Linnaeus, are a genus of about 200 species of Annual plant, Biennial plant and perennial plant herbs in the buckwheat family Polygonaceae....
     - Dock/Sorrel
  • Solanum - Potato
    Potato

    The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial plant Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family. The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well....
  • Urtica - Nettle
    Nettle

    Nettle is the common name for between 30-45 species of flowering plants of the genus Urtica in the family Urticaceae, with a cosmopolitan distribution though mainly temperate distribution....
  • Fungi
    Fungus

    A fungus is a Eukaryote organism that is a member of the Kingdom Fungi . The fungi are a monophyletic group, also called the Eumycota , that is phylogeny distinct from the morphologically similar slime molds and water molds ....

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


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