Small Magpie (Anania hortulata) lives in open grasslands across Europe and Asia. It feeds on flowers and leaves.
Fascinating facts about the Small Magpie
- From early June through July, the small magpie takes to the air, but only when the sun dims, it prefers dusk and is drawn to artificial lights. During daylight it is easily startled, taking off at the slightest disturbance. This timing aligns with the peak bloom of its favorite host plants, ensuring fresh leaves for its larvae. By emerging at night, it avoids many daytime predators, boosting survival rates. Its seasonal flight window also signals to naturalists the best weeks to observe this subtle moth in action.
- A tiny winged flyer stretches just 24-28 mm across. Its forewings flash yellow-white with bold black markings, while the hindwings echo the same pattern, giving it a striking "magpie" look despite its size.
- Female small magpies lay their eggs mainly on stinging nettle (Urtica dioica). Occasionally they choose members of the mint family, such as white horehound, woundwort, or common mint.
- In late summer, August and September, the larvae spin themselves into rolled leaves, feeding from the safety of their leafy shelters. They spin a transparent cocoon beneath loose bark or inside a hollow stem of plants like hogweed.
- First recorded by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, the small magpie has traveled from its Old-World roots to appear across three continents, Asia, Europe and North America. In Canada and the United States it is considered an exotic.
Sources
Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.
At a glance
RangeEurope and Asia
HabitatOpen grasslands
DietFlowers and leaves
About the Small Magpie
In the warm, sun-dappled clearings of European woodlands, the Small Magpie moth dances on delicate wings, its intricate patterns of brown and white a masterful disguise amidst the dappled shadows. With a gentle, fluttering flight, it navigates the intricate landscape of leaf and twig, its compound eyes drinking in the vibrant tapestry of its surroundings. As it alights upon a tender shoot, the Small Magpie's subtle beauty is revealed, its very existence a testament to the unassuming wonders that thrive in the hidden corners of our natural world.
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