Peach blossom

For the plant, see Peach.

For other uses, see Peach Blossom (disambiguation).

The peach blossom (Thyatira batis) is a moth of the family Drepanidae. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.

Peach blossom
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Drepanidae
Genus:	Thyatira
Species:	T. batis
Binomial name
Thyatira batis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
Phalaena (Noctua) batis Linnaeus, 1758 Thyatira batis japonica Werny, 1966 Thyatira batis mandschurica Werny, 1966 Thyatira rubrescens wilemani Werny, 1966 Thyatira batis japonica Dubatolov, 1991 Thyatira vicina pallida Rothschild, 1920 Thyatira rubrescens assamensis Werny, 1966 Thyatira rubrescens kwangtungensis Werny, 1966 Thyatira rubrescens nepalensis Werny, 1966 Thyatira rubrescens obscura Werny, 1966 Thyatira rubrescens orientalis Werny, 1966 Thyatira rubrescens szechwana Werny, 1966 Thyatira rubrescens tienmushana Werny, 1966 Thyatira rubrescens vietnamensis Werny, 1966 Thyatira batis mandschurica Werny, 1966

It is found throughout Europe and east through the Palearctic to Japan and Mongolia. It is a fairly common species in the British Isles.

It is a striking species with brown forewings marked with five pink and white blotches which do rather resemble the petals of peach blossom. The hindwings are buff and grey. The wingspan is 40–45 mm. The species flies at night, in western Europe in June and July sometimes with a partial second brood emerges in late August and September. The species is attracted to light and sugar.

• 
  Both sides MHNT
• 
  ♂
• 
  ♂ △
• 
  Caterpillar
• 
  Pupa

The larva is brown with white markings and several humps along its back. At rest it raises both ends as with many drepanids. It feeds on various Rubus species. The species overwinters as a pupa.

1. ^ The flight season refers to the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range.

Subspecies

• Thyatira batis batis (Russia, Mongolia, Japan, Turkey, Iran, Caucasus, Algeria, Europe, China: Heilongjiang, Jilin, Inner Mongolia, Beijing, Hebei, Shaanxi, Gansu, Xinjiang)
• Thyatira batis formosicola Matsumura, 1933 (Taiwan)
• Thyatira batis pallida (Rothschild, 1920) (Sumatra)
• Thyatira batis rubrescens Werny, 1966 (India, Nepal, Vietnam, China: Henan, Shaanxi, Anhui, Zhejiang, Hubei, Jiangxi, Hunan, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet)

References

Illustration from John Curtis's British Entomology Volume 5

• Chinery, Michael Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe 1986 (Reprinted 1991)
• Skinner, Bernard Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles 1984

External links

• Media related to Thyatira batis at Wikimedia Commons
• Data related to Thyatira batis at Wikispecies
• Peach Blossom at UKMoths
• Lepiforum.de