Agrotis cinerea, the light feathered rustic, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775. It is found in southern and central Europe, northern Turkey, the Caucasus, western Turkmenia and Central Asia. Illustration from John Curtis's British Entomology Volume 5 The wingspan is 33–40 mm. Forewing ashy grey, with darker irroration (sprinkling): claviform and orbicular stigmata obsolete: reniform a small dark lunule; a distinct diffuse dark median shade: hindwing whitish, in the female grey-tinged. — in the ab. alpigena Tur. the wings are paler and the markings indistinct, while in ab. livonica Teich they are very much darker. — ab. fusca Bsd., is larger than the typical form, and black brown; — subsp. tephrina Stgr. is smaller, with forewing narrower, and the markings much clearer; this form is confined to the south of England. Tutt, writing in 1892, Brit. Noct. 11, p. 76, evidently with only British specimens before him, did not notice that the British race was per se distinct from continental forms, so that the aberrations which he there put forward must be considered as applying solely to the British race: — these are ab. pallida Tutt, pale grey without median shade and all males; — ab. obscura Tutt nec Hbn. a unicolorous dull brown form generally (but not always) confined to females; and ab. virgata Tutt pale grey with a distinct reddish median shade, and all males.Seitz, A. Ed., 1914 Die Großschmetterlinge der Erde, Verlag Alfred Kernen, Stuttgart Band 3: Abt. 1, Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen eulenartigen Nachtfalter, 1914 Adults are on wing from May to June depending on the location and are active during both day and night and can be found near flowers, such as Berberis vulgaris Figs 5, 5a larva after last moult The yellowish-white egg has an indistinctly ribbed surface. Adult caterpillars are mostly earth-grey and thus well adapted to their surroundings. They have some indistinct, dark lines and stripes on the dorsum and sides. Black point warts stand out more intensely. The reddish-brown pupa is characterized by a comb-like cremaster with two short thorns. The larvae feed on the roots and leaves of low-growing herbaceous plants and grasses, including Thymus praecox, Stellaria media, Medicago sativa, Rumex and Taraxacum. .
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Agrotis cinerea has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens48
BINs1
Marker genes1
eDNA detections57
Countries12
The DNA barcodethe species' typical barcode, built from every sequenced specimen
COI-5P658 bp consensus46 specimens
ACGT
▸ drag or hover over the strip to read any position — letter and how much it varies
Violet ticks below the strip = positions where individuals differ; flat = the species' unchanging signature. 99% of positions are identical in every specimen.
Where individuals differ — all 5 variable positions, in barcode order
Each circle is a barcode variant; bigger = more specimens, colour = region. Lines join the most similar variants and the tick marks count the mutations between them — a tight cluster is one “dialect”, a long line a more divergent lineage. Click a circle to list its actual specimens.
Diversity (π)0.38%
Haplotypes15
BIN1
Most divergent pair0.91%
Europe
Closest relatives by DNA barcode
The species whose COI barcode is most similar to this one — a quick “who is this most like”. The percentage is how much the barcode differs; it approximates, but is not, the full evolutionary tree.
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★COI-5P
animal barcode
08Occurrence & distribution
Record type11 320 records
Wild obs. + sensor8 010
Museum / vouchered2 707
Other603
Origin
Native2 496
Range
Area of Occupancy AOO10 548 km²
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy32% within 1 km
≤100 m 1 494≤1 km 862≤10 km 5 088>10 km 16
7 460 georeferenced · 550 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor8 010
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy42% within 1 km
≤100 m 205≤1 km 843≤10 km 1 424>10 km 33
2 505 georeferenced · 202 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence2 707
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions18 of 54 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
Provincia di Livornolocation not on record
520
Zürich, CH
303
DanishLepidopterologicalSocietylocation not on record
279
Bern, CH
186
Geneva, CH
84
Dhaka, BD
63
Salzburg, AT
58
Museum Ludovicae Ulricae, Zoology Institute of the University of Uppsalalocation not on record
55
Archäologie und Museum Baselland - Museum.BLlocation not on record
53
Musee d'Histoire Naturallelocation not on record
52
Naturéum — Muséum cantonal des sciences naturelles, Lausanne, Département Zoologielocation not on record
50
Helsinki, FI
45
Muzeum Górnośląskie w Bytomiulocation not on record
43
Sion, CH
41
SLU Artdatabankenlocation not on record
39
Paro, BT
36
Museo civico di Storia naturale Giacomo Doria di Genova | Giacomo Doria Natural History Museum in Genoalocation not on record
35
Naturama Aargaulocation not on record
32
Nijmegen, NL
27
Tartu, EE
27
Naturmuseum St. Gallenlocation not on record
26
SFRAlocation not on record
22
Winterthur, CH
19
European Distributed Institute of Taxonomy (EDIT)location not on record
19
Museum zu Allerheiligen Schaffhausenlocation not on record
18
UMUlocation not on record
17
Natural History Museum Rotterdamlocation not on record
17
Durban Natural Science Museumlocation not on record
15
Glarus, CH
14
Fribourg, CH
13
Naturmuseum Oltenlocation not on record
13
Universität Zürich, Naturhistorisches Museumlocation not on record
11
NCMGlocation not on record
11
Frauenfeld, CH
9
MZLUlocation not on record
9
ZSMlocation not on record
8
NTNU-VMlocation not on record
7
CBDClocation not on record
6
John May Museum of Natural Historylocation not on record
5
Podgorica, ME
5
Tallinn, EE
4
Stockholm, SE
4
Musée de Saint-Imierlocation not on record
3
Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeumlocation not on record
2
NHMOlocation not on record
2
NMOKlocation not on record
2
South Kensington, GB
2
Uniwersytet Łódzkilocation not on record
2
Bavarian State Collection of Zoologylocation not on record
1
МПХУlocation not on record
1
ZMAAlocation not on record
1
Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznańlocation not on record
1
ЗМКУlocation not on record
1
Philosophical Societylocation not on record
1
54 institutions · 2 319 of 2 707 vouchered records shown · 388 without an institution code
09Environmental DNA57 detections
Where the DNA of Agrotis cinerea was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found57
Studies independent surveys1
Countries12
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 57 detections have coordinates
Open the map12 countries0
Mountain fieldsdry grassland
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median12.5 °C 7.40–18.4
Seasonal swing summer↔winter18.5 °C
Max temp (day)16.8 °C 11.2–23.4
Min temp (night)8.70 °C 1.90–12.4
Precipitation72.0 mm/mo 53.9–120
Air humidity58.1 % 55.1–62.6
Moisture balance-42.6 mm/mo -83.6–6.70
Vapour deficit599 Pa 386–974
Wind speed2.80 m/s 1.90–5.40
Cloud cover35.8 % 33.9–40.7
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 52 detection points · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.