Mullein Moth
Encyclopedia
The Mullein Moth Cucullia verbasci is a Noctuid
moth
and is considered a horticultural pest.
Description - Ground colour pale straw to mid-brown. Larva is creamy with black and yellow spots.
Scrub and gardens.
Habits -
Completely strips leaves of host plant.
The fully grown caterpillar is 44–48 mm long (Porter, 1997).
ranges between 45 mm and 56 mm. They also show minor variation in colour.
Noctuidae
The Noctuidae or owlet moths are a family of robustly-built moths that includes more than 35,000 known species out of possibly 100,000 total, in more than 4,200 genera. They constitute the largest family in the Lepidoptera....
moth
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
and is considered a horticultural pest.
Description - Ground colour pale straw to mid-brown. Larva is creamy with black and yellow spots.
Status
Habitat -Scrub and gardens.
Habits -
Completely strips leaves of host plant.
Egg
Eggs are laid singly on the under-surface of leaves of food-plants. Initially white, they turn grey before hatching.Caterpillar
The caterpillar is the most commonly encountered part of the life cycle, clearly visible as it feeds on leaves of its host plants (Waring et al., 2003). In the UK at least, the caterpillar is distinctive (see images on this page), liable to confusion with only Water Betony (C. scrophulariae), which is a rare immigrant to the UK (Porter, 1997; Waring et al., 2003).The fully grown caterpillar is 44–48 mm long (Porter, 1997).
Pupa
The pupa is the longest part of the life cycle (up to 5 years in captivity). It lives underground in a strong cocoon. (Waring et al., 2003)Imago
The species displays much variation in size: wingspanWingspan
The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...
ranges between 45 mm and 56 mm. They also show minor variation in colour.
Host-plants
- BuddlejaBuddlejaBuddleja, often misspelled Buddleia but commonly known as the Butterfly Bush, is a genus of flowering plants. The generic name bestowed by Linnaeus honours the Reverend Adam Buddle , a botanist and rector in Essex, England, but who could never have seen a plant of the genus.-Classification:The...
– Buddleia, "butterfly bush" - Himantoglossum hircinumLizard OrchidThe Lizard Orchid, Himantoglossum hircinum, is found across Europe, from Spain eastwards to the Balkans and Hungary and in western North Africa. It is usually rare but can sometimes be found in great numbers in suitable habitats. This orchid grows in dry meadows, rocky areas, and open woods...
– Lizard Orchid - ScrophulariaScrophulariaThe genus Scrophularia of the family Scrophulariaceae comprises about 200 species of herbaceous flowering plants commonly known as figworts. Species of Scrophularia all share square stems, opposite leaves and open two-lipped flowers forming clusters at the end of their stems...
– figworts - Verbascum – mulleins