| | Insects of Britain and Ireland: the plume moths (Lepidoptera-Pterophoridae and Alucitidae) |
Including Gillmeria
Adults. Face tufted. Labial palps sub-ascending. Wing-span (17–)22–30 mm. Forewings conspicously cleft; 2-segmented; cleft from beyond the middle (from about 2/3 to 3/4). The lower lobe expanded towards the apex. Forewings conspicuously patterned (with some species markedly variable in size and markings, leading to confusion over identifications); light brown, brown, fuscous or ferrugineous ochreous, the apical 2/3 of the terminal cilia white. The apical 2/3 of the terminal cilia white. The base of the fissure preceded by a white fascia (in P. tesseradactyla), or not associated with noticeable marking. Forewing venation exhibiting the cell apically truncated. Forewing vein 8 present (stalked with 9, 11 remote); 9 present. Forewing vein 10 present. Forewing vein 10 separate. Hindwings conspicuously cleft; 3-segmented (the posterior lobe narrower than the other two); dark grey or dark brownish grey. Hindwings similarly coloured to the forewings to differently coloured from the forewings. Hindwings ochreous to dark fuscous. Hindwings with a large black scale-tooth in the dorsal cilia of the posterior segment (usually), or without large black scale-teeth in the the posterior segment (the tooth very small, indistinct or lacking in P. pallidactyla). The large scale-tooth in the posterior hindwing segment when present located in the middle of the dorsum. The second lobe 3-veined. Hindwing vein 3 present (in the middle lobe).
Life history and botanical associations. Adults abroad June to September; not hibernating. Associated with herbs; Tenuinucelli; Asterales.
Larvae and pupae. The larvae found January to December; hibernating, or not hibernating; on Compositae; Achillea, Antennaria, Petasites, Tanacetum, Tussilago. Feeding exposed, or concealed (often); on flowers, or on leaves, or on young shoots; in stems, or in fruits, or in leaves (often mining).
Distribution and habitats. England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. In open grassy parts of woods in Cornwall, North Devon, Kent and Lancashire, and mainly coastal (P. calodactyla); common on roadsides, railway embankments etc. throughout the British Isles except the Shetlands (P. gonodactyla); widespread in marshy places but local throughout Britain and Ireland (P. isodactylus); widely distributed in England north to Durham where Tanacetum vulgare grows (P. ochrodactyla); probably widely distributed throughout Britain and Ireland, often on waste ground on well drained soils (P. pallidactyla); or confined to Ireland, in open limestone localites in Clare and Galway and grassy ridges in east Tyrone (P. tesseradactyla). British species: P. calodactyla, P. gonodactyla, P. isodactylus, P. ochrodactyla (Gillmeria), P. pallidactyla (Gillmeria), P. tesseradactyla.
Subfamily. Subfamily Platyptilinae.
Illustrations. • Platyptilia pallidactyla (specimen): photo. PTEROPHORIDAE. Platyptilia pallidactyla. Folkestone, Kent, 19/7/1954. R.G. Warren. • cf. Platyptilia pallidactyla (specimens): photo. PTEROPHORIDAE. cf. Platyptilia pallidactyla. July 1957, Christchurch, Hants. L. Watson/R.G. Warren. • Platyptilia gonodactyla (specimens): photo. PTEROPHORIDAE. Platyptilia gonodactyla. October 1955, Leek, Staffs. L. Watson. • Platyptilia calodactyla, P. gonodactyla, P. isodactylus and P. ochrodactyla, with Agdistis, Amblyptilia, Cnaemidophorus and Oxyptilus: 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. • Platyptilia ochrodactyla, with Adaina, Alucita, Buckleria, Merrifieldia, Pselnophorus and Pterophorus: Leech, 1886. PTEROPHORIDAE. 1, Adaina microdactyla. 2, Pselnophorus heterodactyla. 3, Pterophorus galactodactyla; 4, Pterophorus spilodactyla; 5, Merrifieldia baliodactylus. 6, Platyptilia (Gillmeria) ochrodactyla. 7, Pterophorus pentadactyla. 8, Buckleria paludum. ALUCITIDAE. 9, Alucita hexadactyla. Leech, 1896. • Platyptilia gonodactyla, P. isodactylus, P. ochrodactyla, P. pallidactyla: Beirne, 1952. 1, Platyptilia gonodactyla; forewing outline (1a), hindwing venation (1b), detail of head (1c). 2, Platyptilia isodactylus; detail of head (2c). 3, Platyptilia ochrodactyla. 4, Platyptilia pallidactyla. From Beirne, 1952. • Platyptilia gonodactyla: Hübner, 1813. • Platyptilia calodactyla: Hübner, 1813. • Platyptilia calodactyla: Hübner, 1819. • Platyptilia ochrodactyla: Hübner, 1813. • Marasmarcha, Merrifieldia, Platyptilia, Stenoptilia: Beirne, 1952. PTEROPHORIDAE. 1, Platyptilia gonodactyla; 2, Platyptilia isodactylus; 3, Platyptilia ochrodactyla; 4, Platyptilia pallidactyla. 5, Stenoptilia pneumonanthes; 6, Stenoptilia zophodactylus; 7, Stenoptilia millieridactyla; 8, Stenoptilia bipunctidactyla; 9, Stenoptilia pterodactyla. 10, Marasmarcha lunaedactyla. 11, Merrifieldia tridactyla; 12, Merrifieldia baliodactylus. From Beirne (1952), all depicted to the same scale. • 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. • Platyptilia isodactylus and P. ochrodactyla: Barrett, 1907. PTEROPHORIDAE. 3, Platyptilia ochrodactyla. 4, Platyptilia isodactylus. From Barrett, 1907. • Platyptilia calodactyla, P. gonodactyla and P. tesseradactyla: Barrett, 1907. PTEROPHORIDAE. 1 and 1a, Platyptilia gonodactyla. 2, Platyptilia calodactyla. 3, Platyptilia tesseradactyla. Barrett, 1907. • hindwing neuration: Platyptilia gonodactyla.
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’.
