Marasmarcha lunaedactyla

Marasmarcha lunaedactyla, also known as the crescent plume is a moth of the family Pterophoridae found in most of Europe. It was first described by Adrian Hardy Haworth in 1811.

Marasmarcha lunaedactyla
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Pterophoridae
Genus: Marasmarcha
Species:
M. lunaedactyla
Binomial name
Marasmarcha lunaedactyla
(Haworth, 1811)[1]
Synonyms
List
    • Alucita lunaedactyla Haworth, 1811
    • Alucita phaeodactyla Hübner, 1813
    • Pterophorus agrorum Herrich-Schäffer, 1855
    • Marasmarcha altaica Krulikowski, 1906
    • Marasmarcha agrorum var. tuttodactyla Chapman, 1906

Description

The wingspan is 18–22 mm. Adults have a moon-shaped creamy-white marking at the cleft of their brownish forewing, hence the names crescent plume and M. lunaedactyla. Adults are on wing from June to August.[2]

The larvae feed on the flowers and young shoots of Ononis species, including common restharrow (Ononis repens), spiny restharrow (Ononis spinosa), yellow restharrow (Ononis natrix), round-leaved restharrow (Ononis rotundifolia) and Ononis arvensis. Pupation takes place along a shoot or on a leaf of the food plant.

Distribution

The crescent plume is found in most of Europe, except Ireland and most of the Balkan Peninsula.

References
  1. "Marasmarcha lunaedactyla (Haworth, 1811)". Fauna Europaea. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  2. Kimber, Ian. "45.023 BF1495 Marasmarcha lunaedactyla (Haworth, 1811)". UKmoths. Retrieved 12 July 2020.


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