David Element
Wildlife Photography and Digital Video Images
___________________________________________________________________Moths
82 – Mother Shipton Moths
MOTHER SHIPTON MOTH Callistegi
mi
MOTHER SHIPTON MOTH Callistegi
mi
MOTHER
SHIPTON MOTH Callistegi mi
·
The use of a somewhat oblique vernacular name for
the Mother Shipton Moth Callistegi mi
(Noctuidae, Catocalinae)
is in reference to a lady by the name of Ursula Southiel,
a prophetess, and according to some sources a witch, who was born in Yorkshire
in 1488 and allegedly possessed bulging eyes, a crooked nose, a hunched back,
and bowed legs. Shipton was her married name. Of course, much of the above
could be apocryphal folklore and exaggerated (as contemporaneous accounts are
unlikely to have been written down), but it appears that she did exist, that she
made herbal remedies, and that she died in 1561. Those with vivid imaginations (including
whoever was originally responsible for bestowing the common name!) will notice
markings vaguely resembling the face of an old hag with a large, hooked nose
and a pointed chin on each forewing of this common, day-flying moth. All the
above is, of course, of no consequence to the moths but the application of this
unusual name has perpetuated the awareness of a rather unconventional and
intriguing lady amongst entomologists. The larvae feed on several leguminous
plants and grasses.
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