Phymatopus hecta (Linnaeus, 1758)

The gold swift is a moth belonging to the family Hepialidae. Until recently it was placed in the genus Hepialus. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. Moths of the Hepialidae are considered to be primitive moths; they do not have a proboscis and are unable to feed. The gold swift is a widespread species found in Europe and Asia, including Japan.

Source: Wikipedia

Synonyms 19

Hepialus decorata, Hepialus hectica, Phalaena (Noctua) hecta, Phalaena clavipes, Noctua elinguis nemorosa, Phymatopus hecta albomaculatus, Hepialus hecta ab. confluens, Hepialus hecta ab. inversa, Hepialus hecta ab. nigra, Hepialus hecta ab. ornata, Hepialus hecta ab. strigosa, Hepialus hecta ab. unicolor, Hepialus hecta f. continua, Hepialus hecta f. radiata, Hepialus hecta f. zetterstedti, Phimatopus hecta f. brunnea, Phimatopus hecta f. fusca, Phimatopus hecta f. reducta, Phimatopus hecta f. rufa

21,606 GBIF occurrences
1,087 iNaturalist observations

Conservation status code

Conservation: status label

Least Concern

Conservation: population trend

Stable

Conservation: year assessed

2026

IUCN Red List page

https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/259948946/259948957

Habitats

IUCN: population narrative

There is no information on the population size or trend of this species.

IUCN: habitat narrative

Habitat: plantations (27%), arable land (17%), pasture land (16%), temperate forest (11%).

IUCN: threats narrative

There are no known widespread or significant threats for this species.

IUCN: conservation narrative

In Europe, this species is listed as: LC on the preliminary Red List of the Netherlands (Ellis et al. 2013), LC in Finland (Hyvärinen et al. 2019), LC in Sweden (SLU Artdatabanken 2020), LC in Germany Rennwald et al. 2011, Trusch et al. 2011, Wachlin and Bolz 2011), NT in the Vorarlberg region in Austria (Huemer et al. 2022), NT in Romania (Rakosy et al. 2023)), VU in the region Flanders in Belgium (Veraghtert et al. 2023), LC in Denmark (Helsing and Karsholt 2019)

IUCN: rationale

European regional assessment: Least Concern (LC)EU 27 regional assessment: Least Concern (LC)This species is not endemic to the European region. It has an established population in Europe and within the EU, and has been documented or assumed to be established with a permanently reproducing population with no major threats, and the species is not considered to be severely fragmented or to be undergoing continuing decline in any aspect of its distribution, population or habitat. The species does not meet any of the criteria for a threatened Category, and is therefore assessed as Least Concern (LC) for both Europe and for the EU27 Member States.

Phymatopus hecta (Linnaeus, 1758)

Related species

Gallery