Anthophila fabriciana

Anthophila fabriciana
Anthophila fabriciana, upperside
Lateral view
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Choreutidae
Genus: Anthophila
Species: A. fabriciana
Binomial name
Anthophila fabriciana
Synonyms[1]

Anthophila fabriciana, also known as the common nettle-tap, is a moth of the family Choreutidae.

Distribution

This species can be found in most of Europe and it occurs throughout Britain.[2] It is also widespread from China (Taiwan, Xinjiang), the Himalaya, Mongolia, Russia, Korea, Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku), Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, the Canary Islands, Madeira, Asia Minor, Zakavkazye and the Oriental region.[3] In 2013 it was reported to be present in Canada (Manitoba).[4]

Habitat

These moths can occur wherever stinging nettles occur.[5]

Description

Anthophila fabriciana has a wingspan of 10–15 millimetres (0.39–0.59 in).[6] The forewings are a patchwork of dark browhish fuscous marbled with pale grey, with yellowish white costal spot and post-median fascia. The abdomen shows large pale bands.[7]

This species is rather similar to Choreutis pariana, which has whitish markings only along costa.[5]

Biology

The moth flies in two generation per year from May to October depending on the location. They are active during the day. The larvae live in an individual web on the leaves of the host plants. They feed on stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), eastern pellitory-of-the-wall (Parietaria officinalis) and tuberous comfrey (Symphytum tuberosum).[6][8][9]

References

  1. ↑ Lepiforum.de
  2. ↑ Fauna europaea
  3. ↑ "Study on Chinese Acrolepiidae and Choreutidae (Insecta: Lepidoptera)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-08-07. Retrieved 2011-12-19.
  4. ↑ Shared but overlooked: 30 species of Holarctic Microlepidoptera revealed by DNA barcodes and morphology
  5. 1 2 Hants Moths
  6. 1 2 UK Moths
  7. ↑ The Bulletin of the Amateur Entomologists’ society vol. 32 n. 300 August 1973
  8. ↑ Lepidoptera of Belgium
  9. ↑ Funet


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.