Epermenia illigerella sensu auctt. nec (Hübner [1813])
Epermenia falciformis, also known as the large lance-wing, is a moth of the family Epermeniidae found in Europe. It was first described by Adrian Hardy Haworth in 1828.
Description
The wingspan is 9–11 mm. Forewings pale ochreous ;
costa fuscous on anterior half; an indistinct fuscous streak from base of dorsum to beneath 1/3 of costa; a rather dark ochreous-fuscous fascia from middle of costa obliquely inwards, dilated on costa, emitting from dilation a streak to tornus ; an inwardly oblique dark ochreous-fuscous spot on costa before apex ; second discal stigma dark fuscous ; two black dorsal scale-teeth ; dark line of cilia subfalcate at apex. Hindwings dark grey. Larva yellow-green; dorsal line darker head yellowish-brown.
[2]
Adults are on wing from June to July and again from August to September in two generations per year.[3]
Ova are laid on angelica (Angelica sylvestris) and ground-elder (Aegopodium podagraria) in June and July, and in the Autumn.[4] Larvae of the first generation feed in May and June in spun leaflets of their host plant, while larvae of the second generation mine a stem immediately below an umbel, causing it to droop and wither. When full grown, larvae leave via a small hole just before the junction above the main stem.[4] Pupation takes place in an open network cocoon amongst detritus on the ground.[5]
The threads spun by the larva are covered with minute drops of a
sticky secretion.
^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
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