Brown Scalewort vs Coastal Flat-body

Radula aquilegia compared with Agonopterix yeatiana

Key Differences

Brown Scalewort is Not Evaluated while Coastal Flat-body is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Brown Scalewort	Coastal Flat-body
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Marchantiophyta (liverwort)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Jungermanniopsida (Jungermanniopsida)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Porellales (Porellales)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Radulaceae	Depressariidae
Genus	Radula	Agonopterix
Species	Radula aquilegia	Agonopterix yeatiana

Conservation Status

Brown Scalewort

NE — Not Evaluated

Coastal Flat-body

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Brown Scalewort	Coastal Flat-body
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Brown Scalewort

Habitat

Native to Europe, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Distributed across Norway, Portugal, and Sweden.

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.

Brown Scalewort

The Brown Scalewort (Radula aquilegia) is a species in the genus Radula. Native to Europe, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region. Distributed across Norway, Portugal, and Sweden. As a member of the genus Radula, it shares characteristics with related species within this taxonomic group.

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.