Coastal Flat-body vs Devil weed

Agonopterix yeatiana compared with Sargassum horneri

Key Differences

• Coastal Flat-body is Near Threatened while Devil weed is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Coastal Flat-body	Devil weed
Kingdom	Animalia (สัตว์)	Chromista (โครมิสตา)
Phylum	Arthropoda (สัตว์ขาปล้อง)	Ochrophyta (Ochrophyta)
Class	Insecta (แมลง)	Phaeophyceae (Phaeophyceae)
Order	Lepidoptera (ผีเสื้อ)	Fucales (Fucales)
Family	Depressariidae	Sargassaceae
Genus	Agonopterix	Sargassum
Species	Agonopterix yeatiana	Sargassum horneri

Conservation Status

Coastal Flat-body

NT — Near Threatened

Devil weed

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Coastal Flat-body	Devil weed
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.

Devil weed

Habitat

Native to Asia and North America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Distributed across Mexico, Taiwan, and United States.

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.