Common swift (moth)

The common swift (Korscheltellus lupulina) is a moth of the family Hepialidae. It was previously placed in the genus Hepialus. It is a common, often abundant European species.

The male has a wingspan of about 30 mm with dark brown forewings with white apical and basal streaks meeting to make a 'v' shape with another spot close to the costa. The hindwings are plain brown. The female is larger (wingspan about 40 mm) with similar patterning to the male but generally paler and less distinct. A significant proportion of individuals of both sexes are plain buff or brown with no pattern. The adults fly from May to July and are attracted to light. The species overwinters as a larva.

The larvae feed underground on the roots of a wide variety of plants (see list below) and can be an agricultural pest.

Recorded food plants

Common swift

The common swift (Apus apus) is a medium-sized bird, superficially similar to the barn swallow or house martin but somewhat larger. It is, however, completely unrelated to those passerine species, since swifts are in the separate order Apodiformes. The resemblances between the groups are due to convergent evolution reflecting similar life styles. The swifts' nearest relatives are thought to be the New World hummingbirds and the Southeast Asian treeswifts.

Their scientific name comes from the Ancient Greek words α "without", and πούς, "feet". ἄπους, apous, meaning "without feet". These birds have very short legs which they use only for clinging to vertical surfaces (hence the German name Mauersegler, literally meaning "wall-glider"). They never settle voluntarily on the ground, where they would be vulnerable to accidents and predation.

Taxonomy

The common swift was one of the many species described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758. The predecessor of the Central European subspecies which lived during the last ice age has been described as Apus apus palapus.