Cilix glaucata

Cilix glaucata, the Chinese character, is a moth of the family Drepanidae. It was first described by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in his 1763 Entomologia Carniolica.[1] It is found in Europe, Asia Minor and North Africa.[2]

Cilix glaucata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Drepanidae
Genus:
Cilix
Species:
C. glaucata
Binomial name
Cilix glaucata
Synonyms
  • Phalaena glaucata Scopoli, 1763
  • Attacus ruffa Linnaeus, 1767
  • Bombyces spinula Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775
  • Bombyx compressa Fabricius, [1777]
  • Phalaena modesta Walch, 1779
  • Cilix glaucata var. aeruginata Turati, 1907
  • Cilix angelina Dannehl, 1925

The wingspan is 18–22 mm. The moth flies from April to August depending on the location.

Wing pattern

The moth has porcelain-white wings, with a series of small grey spots along the outside edge of the front wing and the inner edge has a large dark brown stain, which turns yellow and grey towards the middle of the wing. Occasionally there are silvery scales. The wingtips are rounded and not curved. If they are sitting in their resting position, they imitate bird droppings. The antennae are only slightly combed.

On this Cilix glaucata moth's wing, the silvery scales may — by pareidolia — look a bit like the Chinese character 山, meaning "mountain".

The silvery scales at the middle of the wings are sometimes said to look like a small letter.[3] Some variations may look like Chinese characters.

The larvae feed on Rubus, Crataegus and Prunus species.

References
  1. "65.007 BF1651 Chinese Character Cilix glaucata (Scopoli, 1763)". UKMoths. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
  2. Savela, Markku. "Cilix glaucata (Scopoli, 1763)". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
  3. "(The Chinese Character) Alis niveis fascia abbreviata olivaceo-fusca, in qua litera tenuissima argentea" (Adrian Hardy Haworth (1803). Lepidoptera Britannica. London. p. 110.) roughly translatable as "snow-white wings [with] small olive-brown band, in which [there is a] very thin silver letter".


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