Adaina microdactyla is a moth of the family Pterophoridae first described by Jacob Hübner in 1813. Also known as the hemp-agrimony plume, it is found in Africa, Asia and Europe.

Adaina microdactyla
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Pterophoridae
Genus: Adaina
Species:
A. microdactyla
Binomial name
Adaina microdactyla
(Hübner, 1813) [1]
Synonyms
List
    • Alucita microdactyla Hubner, 1813
    • Pterophorus microdactylus
    • Leioptilus microdactylus
    • Adaina microdactylus
    • Pterophorus carphodactylus Stephens, 1834
    • Adaina montivola Meyrick, 1928
    • Adaina subflavescens Meyrick, 1930
    • Oidaematophorus madecasseus Gibeaux, 1994

The wingspan is 13–17 mm. The forewings are whitish yellowish, sprinkled with blackish. There is a dot in disc at 13, a mark at base of fissure and a distinct mark on costa beyond the fissure, a less distinct one towards apex, and some blackish indistinct dots on margins of segments. The hindwings are grey. The flesh-colour larva has a slightly paler dorsal line and numerous rough points on the dorsum. The head is pale yellowish-brown.[2]

Adults are on wing in May and June and again in August in two generations in western Europe.[3]

larval feeding signs on Eupatorium cannabinum
larva

The larvae feed on hemp-agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum), Indian camphorweed (Pluchea indica), European goldenrod (Solidago virgaurea) and Brassica species.[4] There are two broods, one which bores in stems and produces galls, the other feeding in flowers, although flower feeding has not been recently confirmed.[5]

Distribution edit

It has a wide distribution and is known from the Palearctic realm (from Europe to Korea, Japan and China), Asia Minor, Iran, Vietnam, the Solomon Islands, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. It is also found in Africa, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Madagascar.

References edit

  1. ^ On a collection of Pterophoridae (Lepidoptera) from Haut-Katanga, Democratic Republic of the Congo
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ Kimber, Ian. "Adaina microdactyla (Hübner, [1813])". UKmoths. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  4. ^ Kim, Sora; Byun, Bong-Kyu; Park, Kyu-Tek; Lee, Seunghwan (2010-05-24). "Taxonomic study of the tribe Oidaematophorini (Lepidoptera: Pterophoridae) from Korea, with descriptions of the two new species". Journal of Natural History. 44 (23–24): 1377–1399. doi:10.1080/00222931003679006. S2CID 86607316.
  5. ^ Adaina primulacea Meyrick, 1929: A Gall-Inducing Plume Moth of Siam Weed from South Florida and The Neotropics (Lepidoptera: Pterophoridae)

External links edit