Adscita geryon

Cistus forester
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Zygaenidae
Genus: Adscita
Species:
A. geryon
Binomial name
Adscita geryon
(Hübner, 1813)
Synonyms
  • Sphinx geryon Hubner, 1813
  • Procris geryon
  • Adscita geryon chrysocephala Nickerl, 1845
  • Adscita geryon r. aeris Verity, 1946
  • Adscita geryon parisiensis Leraut, 2012

Adscita geryon, the cistus forester, is a moth of the family Zygaenidae. It is found in southern and central Europe, east to Turkey. It is also present in Great Britain. It was first described by the German entomologist Jacob Hübner in 1813.

The wingspan is 20–25 mm. The larvae can be found from July to May of the following year.

Subspecies

Etymology

Adscita from adscitus, meaning adopted or enrolled was originally a Carl Linnaeus name. Linnaeus divided the hawk-moths into four groups, three of which he called the true hawk-moths and the fourth, ″a group of seven hangers-on, in default of a better position″. In 1783 Retzius was the first to use Adscita as a genus and he kept two of these moths in the Adscita, i.e. statices and filipendulae (the six-spot burnet, which was later assigned to Zygaena). Hubner gave the moth the specific name geryon, which refers to Geryon a mythical three-headed monster killed by Heracles.

References

  1. ↑ Fauna Europaea
  2. ↑ Hans-Josef Weidemann, Jochen Köhler: Nachtfalter, Spinner und Schwärmer, S. 476ff, Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1996, ISBN 3-89440-128-1
  3. ↑ Kimber, Ian. "54.003 BF164 Cistus Forester Adscita geryon". UKmoths. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
  4. ↑ Ellis, W N. "Adscita geryon (Hübner, 1813)". Plant Parasites of Europe. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
  5. ↑ Emmet, A Maitland (1991). The Scientific Names of the British Lepidoptera. Their history and meaning. Colchester: Harley Books. pp. 51–2. ISBN 0-946589-35-6.

Bibliography