Shargacucullia scrophulariae

Shargacucullia scrophulariae, the water betony, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found throughout Europe, east to Turkey.

Caterpillar

Shargacucullia scrophulariae
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Superfamily:	Noctuoidea
Family:	Noctuidae
Genus:	Shargacucullia
Species:	S. scrophulariae
Binomial name
Shargacucullia scrophulariae (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775)
Synonyms
Cucullia scrophulariae Noctua scrophulariae Shargacucullia rivulorum

Shargacucullia scrophulariae - MHNT

Technical description and variation

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

C. scrophulariae Cap. (27 h). Not quite so broad as verbasci, the forewing paler and duller in coloration; the dark brown costal streak overlaid with grey and so paler than those on inner margin; the ground colour below median hardly paler, not strikingly whitish; hindwing much as in verbasci.^[1] The wingspan is about 45 mm.

Biology

The moth flies from May to August depending on the location.

The larvae feed on Scrophularia umbrosa, Scrophularia nodosa, Scrophularia auriculata, Scrophularia canina, Verbascum lychnitis and Verbascum thapsus.

Similar species

Shargacucullia scrophulariae is difficult to certainly distinguish from these congeners. See Townsend et al.^[2]

• Shargacucullia verbasci (Linnaeus, 1758)
• Shargacucullia lychnitis (Rambur, 1833)