Bearded Tooth vs clouded brindle

Hericium erinaceus compared with Apamea epomidion

Key Differences

• Bearded Tooth is Critically Endangered while clouded brindle is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Bearded Tooth	clouded brindle
Kingdom	Fungi (Fungi)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Basidiomycota (Club Fungi)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Agaricomycetes (Mushrooms)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Russulales (Russulales)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Hericiaceae	Noctuidae
Genus	Hericium	Apamea
Species	Hericium erinaceus	Apamea epomidion

Conservation Status

Bearded Tooth

CR — Critically Endangered

clouded brindle

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Bearded Tooth	clouded brindle
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Bearded Tooth

Habitat

Inhabits tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests and temperate broadleaf and mixed forests spanning the Indomalayan and Palearctic realms.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Taiwan), Europe (4 countries), and North America (United States). Currently classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

clouded brindle

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

Bearded Tooth

The Bearded Tooth (Hericium erinaceus) is a species in the genus Hericium. It is currently classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Inhabits tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests and temperate broadleaf and mixed forests spanning the Indomalayan and Palearctic realms.

clouded brindle

The clouded brindle (Apamea epomidion) is a noctuid moth in the family Noctuidae found across temperate Europe and extending into western Asia. The adult wingspan measures approximately 35–45 mm with typical brindle-patterned forewings in grey-brown and buff tones with subtle cross-lines and stigmata characteristic of the Apamea genus. The term 'clouded' refers to diffuse cloud-like darker shading areas across the forewing surface. Adults fly in one generation from June to August, attracted to light and flowers at night. The larvae are internal feeders within grass stems and roots, feeding on coarse grass species such as Brachypodium sylvaticum and Deschampsia in woodland rides, scrub margins, and rough grassland habitats. The pupal stage overwinters in soil or within plant debris. The clouded brindle inhabits structurally diverse woodland edge habitats with a mixture of tall grasses, scrub, and open canopy woodland rides that provide both larval foodplants and adult resting sites. Changes in woodland management, particularly reduction of coppicing and shading of woodland rides, may affect this and related grass-feeding brindle moth species.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 4 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden