| | Insects of Britain and Ireland: the plume moths (Lepidoptera-Pterophoridae and Alucitidae) |
Adults. Face tufted. Labial palps sub-ascending (second segment loosely scaled, the terminal one filiform). Wing-span 18–25 mm. Forewings conspicously cleft; 2-segmented; cleft from beyond the middle (from 2/3 to 3/4). The lower lobe expanded towards the apex. Forewings conspicuously patterned; red-brown, costa sprinkled whitish; with two oblique white fasciae, the first before the middle and sometimes interrupted, the second before the fissure; the cilia white towards the middle of the termen of each segment. The cilia towards the middle of the termen of each segment white. The base of the fissure preceded by a white fascia (this oblique, preceded by another before the middle of the disc). Forewing venation exhibiting the cell apically truncated. Forewing vein 8 present; 9 present (stalked with 8). Forewing vein 10 present. Forewing vein 10 separate. Forewing venation summary: 11 remote. Hindwings conspicuously cleft; 3-segmented (the posterior lobe narrower than the other two); reddish fuscous. Hindwings differently coloured from the forewings (darker). Hindwings reddish fuscous. Hindwings with a large black scale-tooth in the dorsal cilia of the posterior segment. The large scale-tooth in the posterior hindwing segment located much beyond the middle of the dorsum (almost apical, the middle third of the lobe whitish, the apical part dark reddish fuscous). The second lobe 3-veined. Hindwing vein 3 present (in the middle lobe).
Life history and botanical associations. Adults abroad July and August; not hibernating. Associated with shrubs; Crassinucelli; Rosales.
Larvae and pupae. The larvae found May and June; on Rosaceae; Rosa (R. canina). Feeding exposed to concealed (in a loose web); on flowers and on young shoots (and buds).
Distribution and habitats. England. Uncommon: formerly widely distributed in SE England, now perhaps confined to a few SE localities in the Fens, Essex and Kent. British species: C. rhododactyla.
Subfamily. Subfamily Platyptilinae.
Illustrations. • Cnaemidophorus rhododactyla, with Agdistis, Amblyptilia, Oxyptilus and Platyptilia: Leech, 1886. PTEROPHORIDAE. 1, Agdistis bennetii. 2, Cnaemidophorus rhododactyla; 3, C. rhododactyla var. bertram. 4, Platyptilia ochrodactyla; 5, Platyptilia isodactylus; 6, Platyptilia gonodactyla; 7, Platyptilia calodactyla; 8, P. calodactyla var. taeniadactylus. 9 and 10, Amblyptilia acanthadactyla (the latter as A. cosmodactyla). 11, Oxyptilus distans; 12, O. distans var. laetus. Leech, 1886. • Amblyptilia, Agdistis, Capperia, Buckleria, Cnaemidophorus, Oxyptilus, Platyptilia: Beirne, 1952. PTEROPHORIDAE. 1, Agdistis meridionalis; 2, Agdistis bennetii. 3, Buckleria paludum. 4, Oxyptilus distans; 5, Oxyptilus pilosellae; 6, Oxyptilus parvidactylus. 7, Capperia britanniodactyla. 8, Cnaemidophorus rhododactyla. 9, Amblyptilia punctidactyla; 10, Amblyptilia acanthadactyla. 11, Platyptilia tesseradactyla; 12, Platyptilia calodactyla. From Beirne (1952), all represented to the same scale. • Cnaemidophorus rhododactyla: Hübner, 1813. • Cnaemidophorus rhododactyla: Stephens IV, 1834. • Cnaemidophorus rhododactyla: Barrett, 1907.
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2003 onwards. Insects of Britain and Ireland: the plume moths (Lepidoptera-Pterophoridae and Alucitidae). Version: 14th April 2022. delta-intkey.com’.
