clouded magpie vs Common Grey Disco

Abraxas sylvata compared with Mollisia cinerea

Key Differences

• clouded magpie is Vulnerable while Common Grey Disco is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	clouded magpie	Common Grey Disco
Kingdom	Animalia (животные)	Fungi (грибы)
Phylum	Arthropoda (членистоногие)	Ascomycota (аскомицеты)
Class	Insecta (насекомые)	Leotiomycetes (Леоциомицеты)
Order	Lepidoptera (чешуекрылые)	Helotiales (Гелоциевые)
Family	Geometridae	Mollisiaceae
Genus	Abraxas	Mollisia
Species	Abraxas sylvata	Mollisia cinerea

Conservation Status

clouded magpie

VU — Vulnerable

Common Grey Disco

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	clouded magpie	Common Grey Disco
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

clouded magpie

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Common Grey Disco

Habitat

Native to Europe, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, and Sweden.

clouded magpie

The clouded magpie (Abraxas sylvata) is a geometrid moth in the family Geometridae found across temperate Europe, extending eastward through Russia to Japan. The adult wingspan measures approximately 32–42 mm, with white wings bearing a distinctive pattern of yellow-orange and dark grey to black spots and patches arranged in rows across the forewing and hindwing, creating a striking patterned appearance resembling the magpie coloring of the related magpie moth Abraxas grossulariata, but with a more yellowish, muted tone and less black — hence 'clouded.' Adults fly in one generation from June to July, resting on leaf surfaces and attending woodland flowers for nectar. The larvae feed on wych elm (Ulmus glabra) and occasionally other Ulmus species in mature deciduous woodland and woodland edges. The clouded magpie has become less common in parts of its European range due to the widespread loss of mature elms from Dutch elm disease, which devastated European elm populations from the 1970s onward. Conservation of this species requires the protection of surviving mature elm trees and management of regrowth elms in woodland ecosystems.

Common Grey Disco

<em>Mollisia cinerea</em>, commonly known as the common grey disco, is a saprotrophic fungus belonging to the genus Mollisia within the family Mollisiaceae. This species is native to Europe, with a documented range spanning Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, and Sweden. Common grey disco is assessed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. The species typically produces small, disc-shaped ascocarps with a grey to brownish-grey upper surface, typically emerging on decaying wood and plant debris in moist woodland habitats. As a decomposer, it plays an important ecological role in nutrient cycling within temperate forest ecosystems. Biological traits of this species remain poorly documented in the scientific literature.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 4 countries:

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