Hypena proboscidalis, the snout, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.

Hypena proboscidalis
H. proboscidalis from Eure-et-Loir, France
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Superfamily: Noctuoidea
Family: Erebidae
Genus: Hypena
Species:
H. proboscidalis
Binomial name
Hypena proboscidalis

Distribution and habitat

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This species is found in Europe in the north to the Arctic Circle.[1] To the east it ranges across the Palearctic including North Africa, Siberia, Iran, the Altai Mountains, Kamchatka, Kashmir, India, China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan.[2] In the Alps and India, it rises to elevations of over 1600 metres.

Technical description and variation

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The wingspan is 25–38 mm.[3] Its forewings are grey brown with numerous dark transverse striae, and with a brownish-yellow suffusion in the females; the lines dark brown; the inner curved or bent in middle; the outer oblique, nearly straight, slightly incurved at costa, internally shaded with dark brown; the subterminal cloudy and partially interrupted, above middle marked with black white-tipped dashes, followed by a brown cloud, the subapical edge of which is oblique; hindwing pale greyish.

 

As a rule most females are brownish, — ab. brunnea Tutt, —- most males grey without the brown; - the form deleta Stgr., from the Altai Mts., Amurland, and Kamschatka, is paler, the forewing yellowish, sprinkled with brown, with less distinct markings; - tatorhina Btlr. [full species Hypena tatorhina Butler, 1879] from Japan, is small, grey in both sexes, with dingy fuscous suffusion, and a black spot in cell; the hindwing fuscous; - from W. China (Omei-shan and Tatsienlu) comes a form. — subsp. flexilinea subsp. nov. [Warren] dark grey brown in the female, with the transverse striae and the shades preceding the lines dark smoky fuscous, the outer line visibly bent above middle; in the males the dark shading is slight: --a similar but smaller form - indicalis Guen., occurs in the Goorais Valley. Kashmir, where the outer line has a tendency to be elbowed on both folds, and the male, which is quite without dark shading, has a small black dot in cell and a large black spot at its end.[4]

 
Habitat in Ireland

Biology

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Hypena proboscidalis on an Indian bael leave at night, in May 2022.

The moth flies in two generations from May to September.[1]

Larvae are velvety green with the dorsal line darker green; the subdorsal lines paler; head, legs, and tubercles green. The larvae feed on hop (Humulus species), nettle (Urtica species), ground-elder (Aegopodium sp.) and Stachys species.[2][5]

Habitats include deciduous, mixed and coniferous forests, rivers, hedges and gardens and parkland.

Notes

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  1. ^ The flight season refers to Belgium and the Netherlands. This may vary in other parts of the range.

References

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  1. ^ Fauna Europaea
  2. ^ a b Savela, Markku (26 July 2019). "Hypena proboscidalis (Linnaeus, 1758)". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  3. ^ Kimber, Ian. "72.003 BF2477 The Snout Hypena proboscidalis (Linnaeus, 1758)". UKMoths. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  4. ^ Seitz, A. Ed., 1914 Die Großschmetterlinge der Erde, Verlag Alfred Kernen, Stuttgart Band 3: Abt. 1, Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen eulenartigen Nachtfalter, 1914
  5. ^ Mazzei, Paolo; Morel, Daniel & Panfili, Raniero. "Hypena (Hypena) proboscidalis (Linnaeus, 1758)". Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
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