Bearded Iris vs Coastal Flat-body

Iris germanica compared with Agonopterix yeatiana

Key Differences

• Bearded Iris is Not Evaluated while Coastal Flat-body is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Bearded Iris	Coastal Flat-body
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class same	Insecta (Insects)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Mantodea (Mantodea)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Eremiaphilidae	Depressariidae
Genus	Iris	Agonopterix
Species	Iris germanica	Agonopterix yeatiana

Evolutionary Relationship

Bearded Iris and Coastal Flat-body share a common ancestor at the Class level: Insecta. (Insects)

Conservation Status

Bearded Iris

NE — Not Evaluated

Coastal Flat-body

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Bearded Iris	Coastal Flat-body
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Bearded Iris

Habitat

Inhabits montane grasslands and shrublands and Mediterranean forests and woodlands within the Palearctic biogeographic realm.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (Morocco), Asia (Cyprus, India, Japan), Europe (23 countries), North America (Canada, United States), Oceania and the Pacific (Australia), and South America (Brazil, Colombia).

Coastal Flat-body

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, and Sweden. Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

Bearded Iris

The Bearded Iris (Iris germanica) is a species in the genus Iris. Inhabits montane grasslands and shrublands and Mediterranean forests and woodlands within the Palearctic biogeographic realm.

Coastal Flat-body

Agonopterix yeatiana, the coastal flat-body, is a small moth in the family Depressariidae native to coastal and calcareous grassland habitats across western and northern Europe, with records from Belgium, Denmark, and Sweden. Moths in the family Depressariidae, commonly called flat-body moths due to the depressed posture they adopt when resting with wings held flat against the surface, are associated predominantly with umbellifer plants of the family Apiaceae as larval hosts. Agonopterix yeatiana larvae feed on wild carrot (Daucus carota), wild parsnip (Pastinaca sativa), and related coastal and grassland Apiaceae species, inhabiting the open, often calcareous or sandy habitats where these plants grow. Adult moths have greyish-brown forewing with a distinctive pattern of spots and dashes and reach approximately 8–12 millimeters in wingspan. The species is classified as Near Threatened by the IUCN, reflecting declines associated with the loss of traditional hay meadow management, coastal grassland degradation, and scrub encroachment that eliminates the open, flower-rich grassland habitats supporting its host plants. Agricultural intensification has reduced wild umbellifer populations significantly across lowland Europe, reducing food resources for larvae of specialist moths like A. yeatiana.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 3 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇸🇪 Sweden