Patania ruralis

{{short description|Species of moth}}

{{Redirect|Mother of pearl moth|the other moth with this common name|Argyria rufisignella{{!}}Argyria rufisignella}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Mother of pearl moth (Pleuroptya ruralis).jpg

| taxon = Patania ruralis

| authority = (Scopoli, 1763)

| synonyms = {{hidden begin|title = List}}

• Phalaena ruralis Scopoli, 1763
• Syllepta ruralis
• Pleuroptya ruralis
• Pleuroptya conchalis Werneburg, 1864
• Pleuroptya ruralis dubia (Hampson, 1891)
• Pleuroptya ruralis flavescens (Rebel, 1916)
• Pleuroptya iridialis Hübner, 1825

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File:Pleuroptya.ruralis.7310.jpg

Patania ruralis, the mother of pearl moth, is a species of moth in the family Crambidae. It was described by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in 1763. It is found in Europe.

The wingspan is {{convert|26|–|40|mm}}. The forewings are pale whitish-ochreous, yellowish-tinged; a grey subcostal suffusion and connected orbicular dot; lines rather dark grey, first straight, second serrate, curved, strongly broken inwards beneath middle; a dark grey discal mark, nearly followed by a grey blotch; a grey terminal band, edge parallel to second line. Hindwings with colour, discal mark, and posterior markings as in forewings. The larva is whitish green, sides greener; dorsal line darker; head green.Meyrick, E., 1895 A Handbook of British Lepidoptera MacMillan, London [https://archive.org/details/handbookofbritis00meyr/page/n7 pdf] {{PD-notice}} Keys and description

The moth flies from June to September depending on the location.

The larvae feed on stinging nettle and are notable for their rolling locomotion. Scientists used the rolling behavior of the caterpillar as a model to create next-generation robots that roll.{{cite journal|url=http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-3190/6/2/026007/|author=Huai-Ti Lin|author2=Gary G Leisk|author3=Barry Trimmer|title=GoQBot: a caterpillar-inspired soft-bodied rolling robot|journal=Bioinspiration & Biomimetics|publisher=IOP Publishing|volume=6|issue=2|year=2011}}