| | Insects of Britain and Ireland: the plume moths (Lepidoptera-Pterophoridae and Alucitidae) |
Formerly Pterophorus
Adults. Face smooth. Labial palps ascending. Tibiae thickened with scales at the origins of the spurs (at least the middle ones). Wing-span 25–32 mm. Forewings conspicously cleft; 2-segmented; cleft from beyond the middle (from about 2/3). The lower lobe expanded towards the apex. Forewings fairly conspicuously patterned; pale brown, irregularly mixed grey-whitish and irrorated black, with a sub-crescentic blackish and posteriorly white-edged mark before the fissure, an elongate blackish mark along the costa beyond this, and some blackish marginal dots towards the apex; cilia dark grey, somewhat whitish mixed. The cilia dark grey, somewhat whitish mixed. The base of the fissure preceded by a blackish, subcrescentic, posteriorly white-edged mark. Forewing venation exhibiting the cell produced into points. Forewing vein 3 present (connate or stalked with 4); 8 present; 9 absent. Forewing vein 10 present. Forewing vein 10 separate. Hindwings conspicuously cleft; 3-segmented; rather dark fuscous. Hindwings differently coloured from the forewings. Hindwings without large black scale-teeth in the the posterior segment. The second lobe 2-veined veins. Hindwing vein 3 absent.
Life history and botanical associations. Adults abroad July and August. Associated with herbs; Tenuinucelli; Asterales.
Larvae and pupae. The larvae found May and June; on Compositae; Inula and Pulicaria. Feeding exposed; on leaves and on young shoots.
Distribution and habitats. England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. Found on roadsides and grasslands, being widely distributed and common in southern England; local in the Midlands and north, and in Ireland where it is commoner in the west. British species: O. lithodactyla.
Subfamily. Subfamily Pterophorinae.
Illustrations. • Oidaematophorus lithodactyla, detailing middle tibia: Beirne, 1952. • Oidaematophorus lithodactyla, with Capperia, Emmilina, Euleioptilus, Hellinsia, Marasmarcha, Ovendenia, Oxyptilus and Stenoptilia: Leech, 1886. PTEROPHORIDAE. 1, Oxyptilus pilosellae. 2, Capperia britanniodactyla. 3, Oxyptilus parvidactylus. 4, Marasmarcha lunaedactyla. 5, Stenoptilia bipunctidactyla; 6, Stenoptilia zophodactylus; 7, Stenoptilia pterodactyla. 8, Oidaematophorus lithodactyla. 9, Emmelina monodactyla. 10, Ovendenia lienigianus. 11, Euleioptilus tephradactyla. 12, Hellinsia osteodactyla. Leech, 1886. • Adaina microdactyla, Alucita, Emmelina, Euleioptilus, Hellinsia, Oidaematophorus, Ovendenia, Pselnophorus, Pterophorus. PTEROPHORIDAE. 1, Pterophorus pentadactyla; 2, Pterophorus galactodactyla; 3, Pterophorus spilodactylus. 4, Pselnophorus heterodactyla. 5, Adaina microdactyla. 6, Ovendenia lienigienus. 7, Euleioptilus carphodactylus; 9, Euleioptilus tephradactyla. 8, Hellinsia osteodactylus. 10, Oidaematophorus lithodactyla. 11, Emmelina monodactyla. ALUCITIDAE. 12, Alucita hexadactyla. From Beirne (1952), all depicted at the same scale. • Oidaematophorus lithodactyla: 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’.
