Coastal Flat-body vs Common Yew

Agonopterix yeatiana compared with Taxus baccata

Key Differences

Coastal Flat-body is Near Threatened while Common Yew is Vulnerable.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Coastal Flat-body	Common Yew
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Coniferophyta (Conifers)
Class	Insecta (Insects)	Pinopsida (Conifers)
Order	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Pinales (Pines & Allies)
Family	Depressariidae	Taxaceae
Genus	Agonopterix	Taxus
Species	Agonopterix yeatiana	Taxus baccata

Conservation Status

Coastal Flat-body

NT — Near Threatened

Common Yew

VU — Vulnerable

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Coastal Flat-body	Common Yew
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 Yew

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, tundra, and tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, among 6 distinct biome types spanning the Australasia and Oceanian and Palearctic realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (Libya), Europe (10 countries), North America (United States), Oceania and the Pacific (New Zealand), and South America (Brazil). Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

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 Yew

<em>Taxus baccata</em>, the common yew or English yew, is a slow-growing evergreen conifer in the family Taxaceae, native to western, central, and southern Europe, northwest Africa, and southwest Asia. It is one of the longest-lived trees in the Northern Hemisphere, with some individuals estimated to be several thousand years old. The species grows in a variety of habitats including mixed deciduous woodland, calcareous scrub, chalk downlands, and rocky slopes, often as an understorey or emergent tree. Yews are dioecious; female trees produce distinctive bright red fleshy arils surrounding a single hard seed, the only non-toxic part of the plant. All other parts, including the leaves, bark, and seeds, contain highly toxic taxine alkaloids that are dangerous to humans and most animals. Average lifespan can exceed 1,000 years under suitable conditions. <em>Taxus baccata</em> is ecologically important as dense, long-lived woodland habitat and as food for birds that disperse its seeds. Medicinally, taxol derived from yew bark is used in cancer treatment. The species is assessed as Vulnerable due to habitat degradation, overgrazing, and historic overexploitation across parts of its native range, though it remains locally common.