Capperia britanniodactylus

Capperia britanniodactylus, also known as the wood sage plume is a moth of the family Pterophoridae, found in Europe. It was first described by Charles Stuart Gregson in 1869.

Capperia britanniodactylus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Pterophoridae
Genus: Capperia
Species:
C. britanniodactylus
Binomial name
Capperia britanniodactylus
(Gregson, 1869)
Synonyms[1]
  • Capperia britanniodactyla
  • Oxyptilus britanniodactylus Gregson, 1869
  • Pterophorus teucrii Jordan, 1869

Description edit

The wingspan is 18–21 mm.[2] Adults are on wing from May to August.[3] The forewings are dark reddish-fuscous, with a few white scales and indistinct whitish spots at 1/3 of disc and at the base of the first segment. There are two well-marked white bars on the segments. The cilia are mixed with black scales, banded with whitish. The hindwings are dark fuscous, the third segment with two subapical black scale-teeth in the upper cilia and suboblong subapical and small apical scale-teeth in the dorsal cilia, separated by whitish spots. The larva is pale greyish-green with darker green dorsal and subdorsal lines and brown spots and numerous whitish hairs.[4]

 
larva

The larvae feed on the stem of wood sage (Teucrium scorodonia), just below some leaves which soon wither. The larvae then continue living underneath the withered leaves with pupation taking place on the stem under the withered part, or under a leaf, or on adjacent foliage.[2][5]

Distribution edit

The wood sage plume is found in western Europe, from Ireland and Spain to Norway, Germany and Italy. It has also been recorded from Romania and Bulgaria.

References edit

  1. ^ "Capperia britanniodactylus (Gregson, 1867)". Fauna Europaea. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  2. ^ a b Kimber, Ian. "Capperia britanniodactylus (Gregson, 1869)". UKmoths. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  3. ^ Stirling, Phil; Parsons, Mark; Lewington, Richard (2012). Field Guide to the Micro Moths of Great Britain and Ireland. Gillingham, Dorset: British Wildlife. p. 193. ISBN 978-0-9564902-1-6.
  4. ^ Meyrick, E., 1895 A Handbook of British Lepidoptera MacMillan, London pdf   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. Keys and description
  5. ^ Ellis, W N. "Capperia britanniodactylus (Gregson, 1867) wood-sage plume". Plant Parasites of Europa. Retrieved 21 July 2020.

External links edit