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| Insects of Britain and Ireland: the plume moths (Lepidoptera-Pterophoridae and Alucitidae) |
Formerly Pterophorus
Adults. Face smooth. Labial palps ascending. Wing-span 15–19 mm. Forewings conspicously cleft; 2-segmented; cleft from beyond the middle (from about 2/3). The lower lobe expanded towards the apex. Forewings relatively plain (with dark marks); fuscous-whitish, sprinkled blackish; a blackish dot on the disc at 1/3, a larger blackish dot or oblique mark at the base of the fissure and an elongate one on the costa beyond it, a dot on the costa towards the apex, and two or three dots at the apices and along the lower edges of each segment; cilia greyish, whitish on the costa. Forewings whitish-fuscous, or pale fuscous. Greyish, more whitish on the costa. Forewings with a blackish dot 1/3 from the base; with 2–3 small dark dots on the posterior margins of the lobes near their apices; with a blackish costal dot towards the apex. The base of the fissure preceded by a single dark spot or mark (if the latter, this oblique). 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; grey. 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; not hibernating. Associated with herbs; Tenuinucelli; Asterales.
Larvae and pupae. The larvae found May and June; on Compositae, Solanaceae; Artemisia and Leucanthemum, Solanum. Feeding concealed; on leaves (drawing together the edges of a leaf, then later drawing several leaves together, and feeding within).
Distribution and habitats. England. In England south and east of Norfolk, Oxford and Devon, on coasts and waste ground. British species: O. lienigianus.
Subfamily. Subfamily Pterophorinae.
Illustrations. • Ovendenia lienigiensis: Beirne, 1952. • Ovendenia lienigianus, with Capperia, Emmilina, Euleioptilus, Hellinsia, Marasmarcha, Oidaematophorus, 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. • Ovendenia lienigienus: 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’.
