Purple sedge - Clifden nonpareil

Japanese: ムラサキシタバ - むらさきしたば（英語表記）clifden nonpareil

An insect of the Lepidoptera, Noctuidae family. Its wingspan is about 9.5 cm. Its forewings are a cryptic dark grey, but its hindwings have a thick bluish-purple band. The larvae attach to aspen and poplar trees. They produce one egg per year, overwinter, and emerge in August and September, mainly in Hokkaido and mountainous areas north of central Honshu. This species is sometimes collectively referred to as the genus Catocala. They thrive in temperate forests in the Northern Hemisphere, with about 200 species distributed worldwide and 29 in Japan. The only Catocala with a bluish-purple band on its hindwings is the purple grass moth, but a closely related species, the large white grass moth C. lara , has a yellowish-white band and is particularly common in Hokkaido.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

鱗翅目ヤガ科の昆虫。開張約9.5cm。前翅は暗い灰色の隠ぺい色だが，後翅には太い青紫色の帯を有する。幼虫はヤマナラシ，ポプラなどにつく。年1化，卵で越冬し，8,9月に出現，おもに北海道と本州中部以北の山地に産する。この類を一括してカトカラという属名で呼ぶことがある。北半球の温帯林に繁栄し，世界に約200種，日本には29種が分布する。後翅に青紫色の帯をもつカトカラはムラサキシタバのみだが，近縁種に黄白色の帯をもつオオシロシタバC.laraを産し，とくに北海道に多い。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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