Miltochrista miniata

Miltochrista miniata, the rosy footman, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Johann Reinhold Forster in 1771. It is found in the temperate parts of the Palearctic realm – Europe, Asia Minor, Caucasus, northern Kazakhstan, southern Siberia, Amur, Primorye, Sakhalin, southern Kuriles, Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Sichuan, Korea and Japan, but may be replaced by Miltochrista rosaria in the eastern Palearctic.

Rosy footman
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Superfamily:	Noctuoidea
Family:	Erebidae
Subfamily:	Arctiinae
Genus:	Miltochrista
Species:	M. miniata
Binomial name
Miltochrista miniata (Forster, 1771)
Synonyms
Phalaena miniata Forster, 1771 Bombyx rosea Fabricius, 1775 Noctua rubicunda Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775 Phalaena Tortrix roseana de Villers, 1789 Calligenia crogea Bignault, 1880 Miltochrista virginea Delahaye, 1896 Miltochrista flava Meyer, 1906 deleta Höfer, 1924 Miltochrista destrigata Dannehl, 1928 Miltochrista miniata f. nigricirris Lucas, 1959 Miltochrista miniata f. intermedia Lempke, 1961 intensa Lempke, 1961 Miltochrista miniata mosbacheri Roesler, 1967 Miltochrista confluens Lambill., 1906 Miltochrista miniata f. dentatelineata Lempke, 1964 Pyralis minialis Thunberg, 1784 Phalaena rosacea Fourcroy, 1785 Miltochrista rosaria Butler, 1877

Miltochrista miniata

Technical description and variation

For a key to the terms used, see Glossary of entomology terms.

The wingspan is 23–27 mm. Tannish-peach ground colour, rose-red margin to the forewing, and on this wing a black dentate line beyond the middle, and black, elongate spots before the margin. In the male the costa is curved upwards beyond the apex of the cell. In ab. rosaria Butler (now full species Miltochrista rosaria), which is commoner in the east of the area of distribution than in the west, and is perhaps a distinct species, the ground colour is more yellow; and in ab. crogea Bignault the wings are quite pale yellow, the forewing being edged with bright yellow.

Moth, larva and cocoon in Karl Eckstein Die Schmetterlinge Deutschlands (figure 7-7c)

Biology

The moth flies from June to September depending on the location. Often occurs singly, in broadleaf and mixed forests, on moors, at road-side ditches, on umbellifers or scabious.

Egg oval, yellow. Larva grey, with blackish head, with long and dense hairs, hibernating, until June on lichens on walls and fences. The caterpillars feed on lichen. Pupa black-brown, abdomen with yellow incisions, in a cocoon densely intermixed with hairs.

External links

• Kimber, Ian. "72.035 BF2037 Rosy Footman Miltochrista miniata (Forster, 1771)". UKMoths. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
• Fauna Europaea
• Savela, Markku. "Miltochrista miniata (Forster, 1771)". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved 14 October 2019. Taxonomy
• Lepiforum e.V.