Emmelina monodactyla

Emmelina monodactyla
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Pterophoridae
Genus:	Emmelina
Species:	E. monodactyla
Binomial name
	Emmelina monodactyla; (Linnaeus]], 1758)
Synonyms
	List Phalaena Alucita monodactyla Linnaeus, 1758; Phalaena bidactyla Hochenwarth, 1785 ; Alucita pterodactyla Hübner, 1805 ; Pterophorus flaveodactylus Amary, 1840 ; Pterophorus cineridactylus Fitch, 1855 ; Pterophorus naevosidactylus Fitch, 1855 ; Pterophorus impersonalis Walker, 1864 ; Pterophorus pergracilidactylus Packard, 1873 ; Pterophorus barberi Dyar, 1903 ; Pterophorus pictipennis Grinnell, 1908 ; Pterophorus monodactylus f. rufa Dufrane, 1960; ;

Emmelina monodactyla (also known as the T-moth or morning-glory plume moth) is a moth of the family Pterophoridae found in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758.

Description

The moths fly nearly year-round.^[1] They are pale russet in colour, with a wingspan of 18–27 millimeters. The colouration is extremely variable, ranging from off-white with indistinct markings to a strong rust brown. The markings may vary considerably in size. The second and third segments are elongate. The caterpillars are greenish-yellow with a broad green band on the back, and a narrow broken yellow line running down the center. Some specimens may also have a wine-red marking on the back. The colour of the pupae may range from green to reddish brown, sometimes with black markings..^[2]

Biology

The larvae feed from May to September in two overlapping generations.^[1] They mainly feed on Convolvulaceae species, including hedge bindweed (Calystegia sepium), low false bindweed (Calystegia spithamaea]], sea bindweed (Calystegia soldanella), field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), Cantabrican morning glory (Convolvulus cantabrica), Convolvulus floridus, Convolvulus prostratus, dwarf morning-glory (Convolvulus tricolor), sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), Ipomoea eriocarpa and common morning-glory (Ipomoea purpurea). They also feed on Atriplex species, including common orache (Atriplex patula) and Chenopodium, including fat-hen (Chenopodium album) from the family Amaranthaceae, cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) from the family Asteraceae, and thorn apple (Datura stramonium) and henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) from the family Solanaceae.^[3]

Emmelina and eggs
Caterpillar
Pupa
Adult at rest

Distribution

It is found in Europe, central Asia, Japan, North Africa and North America.

References

^ ^a ^b Kimber, Ian. "Common Plume Emmelina monodactyla (Linnaeus, 1758)". UKmoths. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
^ 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
^ 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.

External links

[ukmoths-1] Kimber, Ian. "Common Plume Emmelina monodactyla (Linnaeus, 1758)". UKmoths. Retrieved 2 November 2023.

[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] 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.

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