Bad-smelling Alkanet vs Coast Groundling

Alkanna maleolens compared with Caryocolum vicinella

Key Differences

• Bad-smelling Alkanet is Critically Endangered while Coast Groundling is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Bad-smelling Alkanet	Coast Groundling
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Boraginales (Boraginales)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Boraginaceae	Gelechiidae
Genus	Alkanna	Caryocolum
Species	Alkanna maleolens	Caryocolum vicinella

Conservation Status

Bad-smelling Alkanet

CR — Critically Endangered

Coast Groundling

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Bad-smelling Alkanet	Coast Groundling
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Bad-smelling Alkanet

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Coast Groundling

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

Bad-smelling Alkanet

The Bad-smelling Alkanet (Alkanna maleolens) is a species in the genus Alkanna. It is currently classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Coast Groundling

Coast groundling (Caryocolum vicinella) is a small moth in the family Gelechiidae, native to coastal sand dunes and sandy coastal habitats of northwestern Europe, including the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Scandinavia. Like other members of the large and taxonomically complex genus Caryocolum, the larvae are leaf miners or feeders on specific plant hosts in the pink family (Caryophyllaceae), often specialising on coastal species such as sea campion (Silene uniflora) or related plants in coastal dune systems. Adults are small, narrow-winged moths with pale ochre, brown, or grey patterning, flying at dusk and nocturally in summer. The species is associated with open, mobile or semi-stabilised coastal dunes with abundant larval host plants. Coast groundling is assessed as Least Concern by the IUCN. However, like many gelechiid moths restricted to coastal dune habitats, it may be sensitive to habitat changes caused by dune stabilisation, scrub encroachment, and reduced management of sand dune systems. Long-term population trends are difficult to assess given the cryptic nature of the species.