Coastal Flat-body vs Common Wood-Rush

Agonopterix yeatiana compared with Luzula multiflora

Key Differences

Coastal Flat-body is Near Threatened while Common Wood-Rush is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Coastal Flat-body	Common Wood-Rush
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Insecta (Insects)	Liliopsida (Monocots)
Order	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Poales (Grasses)
Family	Depressariidae	Juncaceae
Genus	Agonopterix	Luzula
Species	Agonopterix yeatiana	Luzula multiflora

Conservation Status

Coastal Flat-body

NT — Near Threatened

Common Wood-Rush

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Coastal Flat-body	Common Wood-Rush
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

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.

Common Wood-Rush

Habitat

Typically found in grasslands, wetlands, forests, and cultivated landscapes.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (South Africa), Asia (Taiwan), Europe (7 countries), North America (United States), and Oceania and the Pacific (Australia).

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.

Common Wood-Rush

<em>Luzula multiflora</em>, the common wood rush, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Juncaceae. It has a broad, nearly cosmopolitan distribution, occurring across Europe, Asia, North America, and parts of the Southern Hemisphere, where it grows in a wide range of habitats including meadows, heathlands, open woodlands, grasslands, and mountain slopes. The species typically forms tufted clumps of grass-like leaves that are sparsely hairy along the margins, a characteristic shared by many members of the genus. Flowering stems reach roughly 10–40 cm in height and bear dense clusters of small brown flowers arranged in rounded heads. It thrives in well-drained to moderately moist, often acidic soils and tolerates a wide range of light conditions from full sun to partial shade. Biological traits such as average lifespan, precise body measurements, and detailed population data remain poorly documented in consolidated scientific literature. <em>Luzula multiflora</em> plays an ecological role in many grassland and heathland communities, providing ground cover and contributing to soil stability. It is assessed as Least Concern given its wide distribution and abundance across multiple continents.