Micronoctua

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Classis: Insecta
Cladus: Dicondylia
Subclassis: Pterygota
Cladus: Metapterygota
Infraclassis: Neoptera
Cladus: Eumetabola
Cladus: Endopterygota
Superordo: Panorpida
Cladus: Amphiesmenoptera
Ordo: Lepidoptera
Subordo: Glossata
Cladus: Coelolepida
Cladus: Myoglossata
Cladus: Neolepidoptera
Infraordo: Heteroneura
Cladus: Eulepidoptera
Cladus: Ditrysia
Cladus: Apoditrysia
Cladus: Obtectomera
Cladus: Macroheterocera
Superfamilia: Noctuoidea

Familia: Nolidae
Genus: Micronoctua
Species: M. karsholti
Name

Micronoctua Fibiger, 1997.

Type species: Micronoctua karsholti Fibiger, 1997.
References
Primary references

Fibiger, M. 1997. Micronoctua karsholti gen. et sp. n.: an astonishing small noctuid moth (Noctuidae). Nota lepidopterologica (n.f.) 20(1-2): 23-30. full article (PDF). Reference page.

Additional references

Fibiger, M. 2011. Revision of the Micronoctuidae (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea). Part 4, Taxonomy of the subfamilies Tentaxinae and Micronoctuinae. Zootaxa 2842: 1–188. Preview Reference page.

Micronoctua is a monotypic moth genus of the family Erebidae. Its only species, Micronoctua karsholti, is known from southern Turkey, Cyprus, the islands of south-east Greece, and the northern Levant (including Lebanon, Syria and Israel). Both the genus and the species were first described by Michael Fibiger in 1997.

It is the smallest of all species of the superfamily Noctuoidea.

The wingspan is 6–9 mm. The resting position is flat, with the forewing hind margins against each other. The hindwing venation is bifid. The head, patagia and prothorax are blackish, while the rest of the thorax and ground colour of the forewing is unicolorous dark greyish brown. All crosslines of the forewing are present and black. The fringes are grey. The hindwing is light greyish brown. The underside is unicolorous light brown, with a weakly marked postmedian line and a discal spot.

The habitat consists of warm, dry areas in open grassland with many herbaceous plants and open pine forests. There are multiple generations per year and adults have been recorded from April to October.
Former species

Micronoctua occi is now Parens occi (Fibiger & Kononenko, 2008)

References

Fibiger, Michael (1997). "Micronoctua karsholti gen. et sp. n.: an astonishing small noctuid moth (Noctuidae)". Nota lepidopterologica. 20 (1/2): 23–30.
Fibiger, Michael & Kononenko, Vladimir S. (2008). "Revision of the Micronoctuidae species occurring in the Russian Far East and neighbouring countries with description of a new species (Lepidoptera, Noctuoidea)" (PDF). Zootaxa. 1890: 50–58.
Fibiger, Michael (2011). "Revision of the Micronoctuidae (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea). Part 4, Taxonomy of the subfamilies Tentaxinae and Micronoctuinae" (PDF). Zootaxa. 2842: 1–188.