Laelia coenosa (Hübner, 1808) Species
Last modified: May 7, 2024, 10:53 a.m.
A very rare and local species in Belgium, hitherto only known from the province of LI where the last known observations were in 2010.
This species is considered Regionally Extinct according to the IUCN Red List category for Flanders 2023.
Details
- Classification
- Family: Erebidae > Subfamily: Lymantriinae > Tribus: Orgyiini > Genus: Laelia > Species: Laelia coenosa
- Vernacular names
- Moerasspinner (NL), Reed Tussock (EN), Le Liparis sale (FR), Gelbbein (DE)
- First mention in Belgium
- Berger L. A. 1947a. Espèces nouvelles pour la faune belge (suite). — Lambillionea 47: 27, 59–61, 78. On page 27.
- Status
-
Native
Distribution
Imago
It is an inconspicuous butterfly with an awkward flight. The male has dull unmarked pale white-brown wings with feathered antennae that stick up diagonally. The female has also unmarked white wings with thread-like antennae. The species has a characteristic resting position with the yellow front legs pointing straight forward and the yellow middle legs being perpendicular to the body.
Museum specimens
Specimens in nature
No pictures yet!Bionomics
Hibernates as a part-grown larva in vegetation near the food plant.
The adults come to light. The butterflies fly in one clumsy line towards the light and already fall meters in front of the light in the vegetation and stay there motionless for the rest of the night.
Flight periods
The adults fly from the first decade of July to the third decade of August with a peak during the first decade of August in one generation a year.
Observed on
- Host plant (genera):
- Phragmites, Carex, Festuca and Sparganium
The larva lives on Cyperaceae and some Poaceae, especially on Cladium mariscus and Phragmites australis, also found and Sparganium erectum.
Habitat
It inhabits wetland habitats where sufficient food plants grow, especially in calcareous marshes with lots of Cladium.
