Common footman
{{short description|Species of moth}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Common footman
| image = Common footman (Eilema lurideola).jpg
| taxon = Manulea lurideola
| authority = (Zincken, 1817)
| synonyms ={{Specieslist
|Lithosia lurideola|Zincken, 1817
|Lithosia complanula|Boisduval, 1834
|Bombyx plumbeola|Hübner, 1848
|Eilema lurideola|
|Eilema lurideolum|
}}
}}
The common footman (Manulea lurideola) is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Johann Leopold Theodor Friedrich Zincken in 1817. It is distributed throughout Europe and east through the Palearctic to Lake Baikal.
Image:Eilema.lurideola5.-.lindsey.jpg
This species has a wingspan of 31–38 mm. The forewings are grey with a yellowish-buff streak along the costa. The hindwings are a uniform cream colour. Like other footmen, it rests with its wings wrapped around its body. (The common name footman comes from a supposed resemblance to the uniform of a footman.)
Technical description and variation
{{Entomology glossary hatnote}}
Wingspan 31–38 mm. Forewing broadened towards the outer margin, bright glossy lead grey with broad, regular, light yellow costal band, somewhat dulled at the apex, and pure yellow fringes; hindwing, head and neck and anal tuft of male ivory yellow. Beneath, the forewing is only suffused with sooty grey at the base and on the disc, so that a broad outer border is pale yellow. Hindwing pale yellow with a slightly dark costal margin.Seitz, A. in Seitz, A. Ed. Die Großschmetterlinge der Erde, Verlag Alfred Kernen, Stuttgart Band 2: Abt. 1, Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen Spinner und Schwärmer, 1912- 1913
Biology
This moth flies at night in July and August and is attracted to light and nectar-rich flowers.{{ref|flight_season}}
Larva dark lilac grey with black dorsal line and black head, bearing black and yellow hairs; subdorsal lines black, stigma-line orange. It usually feeds on various lichens including Parmelia, although it has also been recorded feeding on buckthorn and oak. The species overwinters as a larva, hibernating, until the end of May. Pupa reddish brown and glossy. According to Schmidt the larvae prefer the trunks of beeches and oaks, but (Seitz) "I often beat the moths out of the lower branches of high, solitary larches in the Alpine valleys; locally very common, especially in the mountains".
- {{Note|flight_season}} The flight season refers to the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range.
References
{{Reflist}}
- {{cite book |last=Chinery |first=Michael |authorlink=Michael Chinery |date=1991 |title=Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe}}
- Dubatolov, Vladimir [http://szmn.eco.nsc.ru/Lithosiinae/Manulea_lurideola.htm "Manulea (Agenjoa) lurideola ([Zincken], 1817)"] Lichen-Moths (Arctiidae, Lithosiinae) of Russia and Adjacent Countries. {{in lang|ru}}
- {{cite book |last=Skinner |first=Bernard |authorlink=Bernard Skinner (entomologist) |date=1984 |title=The Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles}}
{{Commonscat|Eilema lurideola}}
{{Wikispecies|Manulea lurideola}}
External links
- {{cite web |last=Savela |first=Markku |url=https://www.nic.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/noctuoidea/arctiidae/lithosiinae/eilema/#lurideola |title=Eilema lurideola (Zincken, 1817) |website=Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms |accessdate=October 9, 2019}} Taxonomy
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20151029024621/http://www.faunaeur.org/full_results.php?id=446916 Eilema lurideola at Fauna Europaea]
- [http://www.lepiforum.de/lepiwiki.pl?Eilema_Lurideola "'10489 Eilema lurideola ([Zincken], 1817) - Grauleib-Flechtenbärchen" at Lepiforum e.V.]
{{Taxonbar|from=Q217103}}
Category:Moths described in 1817
Category:Taxa named by Johann Leopold Theodor Friedrich Zincken