The citrus leafminer - Phyllocnistis citrella Stainton, 1856 - Cyprus

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All about Cyprus - Όλα για την Κύπρο

List of Moths of Cyprus you will find in this blog (Lepidoptera)

Order: Lepidoptera

Family: Gracillariidae

The citrus leafminer (Phyllocnistis citrella) is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is also known as CLM in agriculture. It was described by Henry Tibbats Stainton from India in 1856. It was first found in Florida, United States, in 1993, but is now found all over the world, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Corsica, Costa Rica, Cuba, India, Israel, Madeira, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, the Philippines, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka and other parts of the United States.The wingspan is about 5 millimetres (0.20 in).The larvae are considered a serious agricultural pest on Citrus species, such as Aegle marmelos, Atalantia, Citrofortunella microcarpa, Citrus limon, Citrus paradisi, Citrus maxima, Fortunella margarita, Murraya paniculata and Poncirus trifoliate. Larvae have also been recorded on Garcinia mangostana, Pongamia pinnata, Alseodaphne semecarpifolia, Loranthus and Jasminum sambac. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine consists of a long epidermal corridor with a well-marked central frass line. The mine is mostly lower-surface, but sometimes upper-surface, and rarely on the rind of the developing fruit. Citrus leaf miner larvae are thus protected from many topic insecticide treatments. Pupation takes place in a chamber at the end of the corridor, under an overturned part of the leaf margin.

Citrus leafminer (CLM) are native to Asia and are found throughout the continent and beyond. Japan, the Philippines, New Guinea, India and Taiwan are some of the countries in which the pest is distributed. The pest is not exclusively found in these countries having spread to nearly every citrus growing area in the world. Recent spread into North and South America was reported in the early 1990s. This is especially important because major citrus growing operations are found in Brazil and the US. These two countries account for half of the world's citrus production From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllocnistis_citrella

Photos Strovolos / Demetris Kolokotronis 06.09.22

Rambur’s Wave - Idaea elongaria (Rambur, 1833).- Cyprus

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List of Moths of Cyprus you will find in this blog (Lepidoptera)

All about Cyprus - Όλα για την Κύπρο

Family Geometridae

Idaea elongaria is a species of moth belonging to the family Geometridae . It is commonly known as Rambur’s Wave . The species has been observed in various locations including Greece, Cyprus and Crete.

Photo by George Konstantinou

Selidosema tamsi (Rebel, 1939) - Endemic to Cyprus

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List of Moths of Cyprus you will find in this blog (Lepidoptera)

All about Cyprus - Όλα για την Κύπρο

 Endemic to Cyprus. The species has great diversity in its external characteristics.

Family Geometridae

Selidosema is a genus of moths in the family Geometridae first described by Jacob Hübner in 1823.

Photo by George Konstantinou

Locust bean moth - carob moth - Ectomyelois ceratoniae (Zeller, 1839) - Χαρουπόσκωρος - Cyprus

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St John's-bread, or Locust bean, Carob tree - Ceratonia siliqua L. - Τερατσιά, Χαρουπιά

List of Moths of Cyprus you will find in this blog (Lepidoptera)

All about Cyprus - Όλα για την Κύπρο

Ectomyelois ceratoniae, the locust bean moth, more ambiguously known as "carob moth", is a moth of the family Pyralidae. It has a nearly cosmopolitan distribution.

Adults have forewings with a pale brown pattern, and plain white hindwings. The female moths find suitable fruit or nuts on which to lay their eggs using volatile substances emitted by fungus which is infecting the material.

The larvae are translucent white, with the internal organs visible from the outside. They feed on the seeds and pods of a wide range of plants, including Punica granatum, Citrus fruit, Pistacia vera, Juglans regia, Prunus dulcis, Macadamia integrifolia, Acacia farnesiana, Caesalpinia sappan, Cassia bicapsularis, Ricinus, Erythrina monosperma, Haematoxylum campechianum, Prosopis juliflora, Samanea saman, Phoenix dactylifera, and Ceratonia siliqua. It is a considerable agricultural pest, recognized as the most economically damaging pest of the date industry in California. In many regions around the world, it also damages many other high-value nut and fruit commodities such as almonds, pistachios, macadamias, pomegranates, and stone and pome fruits.

In 2007, the California date Phoenix dactylifera industry produced 17,700 tons of dates on 5,900 acres, with a gross value of about $31.86 million. During the past 25 years, the locust bean moth has caused between 10 and 40% damage of the harvestable crop annually, which equates to roughly $3.1 – $12.7 million in economic losses, not including control costs.

Until recently, the only current of controlling locust bean moth was malathion dusting, three or four times per growing season. Because of the height of the palm trees (sometimes over 50 ft), commercial treatments were applied exclusively by powerful dusting equipment that delivers the insecticidal dust through a hand-directed tube. This produces a "fog" of insecticide during application that essentially blankets the ground with malathion, which is wasteful and creates unintended nontarget effects on other animal species, as well as "environmental pollution". Furthermore, the accumulation of the malathion dust on the skin of dates creates problems with desiccation of the fruit, reducing the overall quality of the product. Encroachment of date gardens and urban areas has been forcing the California date producers to move away from malathion dusting, but until recently, no other alternatives for locust bean moth control were available.

The mimic pheromone used in monitoring lures also provided a viable nontoxic alternative of locust bean moth control. When the mimic pheromone is formulated into SPLAT, it can be used to control moth populations through "mating disruption" in date gardens and pomegranate and almond orchards. Extensive field trials with the mimic pheromone formulation SPLAT EC and its organic counterpart, SPLAT EC-Organic, have proven that effective season-long control of populations in date gardens is achieved after a single application of the pheromone mimic formulation. SPLAT EC or SPLAT EC-Organic are deployed as preventive measures to protect an area from locust bean moth infestation. The products do not "kill" the moths, they control populations by disrupting their mating with the volatiles of the pheromone mimic emitted by SPLAT EC and SPLAT EC-O. Hence, the timing of the product application is important to optimally target the mating season.

Synonyms

The species is also known under these obsolete names:

Apomyelois ceratoniae (Zeller, 1839)

Euzophera zellerella Sorhagen, 1881

Heterographis rivulalis Warren & Rothschild, 1905

Hypsipyla psarella Hampson, 1903

Laodamia durandi Lucas, 1950

Myelois ceratoniae Zeller, 1839

Myelois oporedestella Dyar, 1911

Myelois phoenicis Durrant, 1915

Phycis ceratoniella Fischer von Röslerstamm, 1839

Phycita dentilinella Hampson, 1896

Trachonitis pryerella Vaughan, 1870

Ectomyelois tuerckheimiella is a doubtfully distinct taxon; it may be a cryptic species or yet another synonym.

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ectomyelois_ceratoniae

Photos  Geri 23/10/2019 by George Konstantinou

Ematheudes punctella (Treitschke, 1833) - Cyprus

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All about Cyprus - Όλα για την Κύπρο

List of Moths of Cyprus you will find in this blog (Lepidoptera)

Family Pyralidae

Ematheudes punctella is a moth of the family Pyralidae described by Georg Friedrich Treitschke in 1833. It is found in southern and central Europe, Cyprus, Turkey and probably further east.

Photo by George Konstantinou

Cnephasia orientana (Alphéraky, 1877) - Cyprus

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List of Moths of Cyprus you will find in this blog (Lepidoptera)

Family: Tortricidae

Cnephasia is a genus of tortrix moths (family Tortricidae). It belongs to the subfamily Tortricinae and therein to the tribe Cnephasiini, of which it is the type genus

Photos 20/4/2011 by George Konstantinou

Vine hawk-moth or silver-striped hawk-moth - Hippotion celerio (Linnaeus, 1758) - Cyprus

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All about Cyprus - Όλα για την Κύπρο

List of Moths of Cyprus you will find in this blog (Lepidoptera)

Hippotion celerio, the vine hawk-moth or silver-striped hawk-moth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It was described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.

It is found in Africa and central and southern Asia of India, Sri Lanka and, as a migrant in southern Europe and Australia. The forewing is typically 28–35 millimetres (1.1–1.4 in) long.

The body and forewing of the adult moth are green and ochre. They have silvery white dots and streaks, with a silvery band running obliquely on the forewing. The hindwing is red near its lower angle (tornus) to pinkish over other parts of the wing. It is crossed by a black bar and black veins. There is greater variation. In f. pallida Tutt the ground coloration is a pale terracotta ground; in f. rosea Closs, the wings have a red suffusion; in f. brunnea Tutt, the suffusion is deep brown. In f. augustei Trimoul, the black markings cover the entire wings; in f. luecki Closs, all silver markings are absent and in f. sieberti Closs, the forewing oblique stripe is yellowish, not silver.

Larvae may be green, yellowish green or even brown. They have a dark broken mid-dorsal line and a creamy dorso-lateral line from the fifth segment to the horn. The head is round, and usually a dull green colour. The larva has a horn which is usually long and straight. There is a large yellow and green eyespot on the third segment and a smaller one on the fourth segment.

Larvae typically feed on the leaves of plants such as the grape vine, Cissus, Impatiens and the Arum lily. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos Geri 21/9/2023 by George Konstantinou

Pterophorus sp. - Cyprus

 Family Pterophoridae

Pterophorus is a genus of moths in the family Pterophoridae

The Pterophoridae or plume moths are a family of Lepidoptera with unusually modified wings. Though they belong to the Apoditrysia like the larger moths and the butterflies, unlike these they are tiny and were formerly included among the assemblage called "microlepidoptera".

The forewings of plume moths usually consist of two curved spars with more or less bedraggled bristles trailing behind. This resembles the closely related Alucitidae (many-plumed moths) at first glance, but the latter have a greater number of symmetrical plumes. The hindwings are similarly constructed, but have three spars. This unorthodox structure does not prevent flight. A few genera have normal lepidopteran wings.

The usual resting posture is with the wings extended laterally and narrowly rolled up. Often they resemble a piece of dried grass, and may pass unnoticed by potential predators even when resting in exposed situations in daylight. Some species have larvae which are stem- or root-borers while others are leaf-browsers. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photo 

by George Konstantinou

Mattia callidaria (Joannis, 1891) - Cyprus

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List of Moths of Cyprus you will find in this blog (Lepidoptera)

All about Cyprus - Όλα για την Κύπρο

 Family Geometridae

Host plants:

The larva feeds on  Sarcopoterium spinosum (Rosaceae).

Habitat:

Mattia callidaria inhabits open and often grazed habitats, especially the Mediterranean garigue with occurrence of the host plant.

Life cycle:

The moths usually fly in October and November. The larvae develop over winter and are mature in early spring. I could beat them abundantly in Cyprus (Paphos) in late February 2017. The pupa aestivates.

Remarks:

Mattia callidaria occurs in the Eastern Mediterranean (S-Greece: especially Peloponnese, Crete, some Eagean Islands as e.g. Samos; S-Turkey; Cyprus; Levante). From http://www.pyrgus.de/Mattia_en.html

Photo by George Konstantinou 

Long-legged china-mark - Dolicharthria punctalis (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775) - Cyprus

 See also - List of Moths of Cyprus you will find in this blog (Lepidoptera)

Family Crambidae

Dolicharthria punctalis, the long-legged china-mark, is a species of moth of the family Crambidae. It is the type species of the proposed genus Stenia, which is usually included in Dolicharthria but may be distinct.

It is found mainly in central and southern Europe, but has been recorded further north. The wingspan is 20–25 mm. The moth flies from May to September depending on the location.

The caterpillars feed on Centaurea (knapweeds), Plantago (plantain herb), Trifolium (clovers), Artemisia vulgaris (common wormwood) and even the marine eelgrass Zostera marina. Yet other unusual recorded[2] foods are dry leaves, plant waste, and old roots. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photo 

by George Konstantinou

Uresiphita gilvata (Fabricius, 1794) - Cyprus

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Family Crambidae

Uresiphita gilvata is a moth of the family Crambidae. It was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1794 and is found in Europe and North Africa.

The wingspan is 29–37 mm. The forewing is greyish to light brown sometimes whitish bands either side of the median area (sometimes obsolete).The hindwing is pale or bright yellow with a black margin. The lines vary from faint to clear. The postmedian line is undulating and the antemedian line is almost straight.

Adults are on wing from September to October depending on the location.

The larvae feed on various low-growing herbaceous plants, including Genista, Cytisus and Ulex.

It is listed as a synonym of Uresiphita polygonalis by some sources

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photo Athalassa  by George Konstantinou

Tamarisk peacock - Godonela aestimaria (Hübner, 1809) - Cyprus

 See also - List of Moths of Cyprus you will find in this blog (Lepidoptera)

Family Geometridae

Godonela aestimaria, the tamarisk peacock, is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is found in southern and south-eastern Europe and the Middle East.

The wingspan is 21–25 mm. There are two generations per year with adults on wing from April to May and again from August to October.

The larvae feed on various species of Tamarix.

Tamarix sp. - Αλμυρίκι - Μερίκα - Μυρίκη, Μέρικος ή Μεριτζιά - Cyprus

Photos Geri  by George Konstantinou

Idaea circuitaria (Hübner, 1819) - Cyprus

 See also - List of Moths of Cyprus you will find in this blog (Lepidoptera)

Family: Geometridae

Idaea, sometimes called Hyriogona (among other synonyms), is a large genus of geometer moths. It was erected by Georg Friedrich Treitschke in 1825. They are found nearly worldwide, with many native to the Mediterranean, the African savannas, and the deserts of western Asia.

Photos Geri 14/5/2011 by George Konstantinou

Least carpet - Idaea rusticata (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775) - Cyprus

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Family Geometridae

 Idaea rusticata, the least carpet, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775.

Distribution

This species can be found in most of Europe, in the Near East and in North Africa. From the Balkan Peninsula, the occurrence continues across the Palearctic though Ukraine, southern Russia and Asia Minor to the Caucasus and from there via northern Iran, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan to the Central Asian mountains as far as Mongolia. Of all moths in Britain it showed the greatest percentage increase in abundance between 1968 and 2007, and expanded its range beyond the vicinity of London.

Habitat

These moths inhabit wastelands, open places, parks and well exposed gardens

Biology

It is usually a univoltine species. In southern Europe, under favourable circumstances, a second generation can also be formed. The second generation is significantly smaller. The adults fly at night from July to August, and are attracted to light. The larvae mainly feed on ivy (Hedera) and traveller's joy (Clematis vitalba). and withered leaves of other herbaceous plants.From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idaea_rusticata

Photos Geri  by George Konstantinou

Scopula minorata (Boisduval, 1833) - Cyprus

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Family Geometridae

Scopula minorata is a moth of the family Geometridae. It was described by Jean Baptiste Boisduval in 1833. It is found in Africa south of the Sahara, the Arabian Peninsula and on the islands of the Indian Ocean. Furthermore, it is found in southern Europe. It can be distinguished from Scopula lactaria only by examination of its genitalia.

The wingspan is 15–20 millimetres (0.59–0.79 in).

Photos Geri  by George Konstantinou

European pepper moth or Southern European marsh pyralid - Duponchelia fovealis Zeller, 1847 - Cyprus

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Family Crambidae

Duponchelia fovealis is a species of moth of the family Crambidae described by Philipp Christoph Zeller in 1847. It is endemic to the area surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, and the Canary Islands, but has extended its range to other parts of Africa, Europe, the Middle East and North America

Adult wingspan is about 20 mm. The moth flies from May to June, depending on the location.

The larvae feed on various plants. Hosts include a wide range of mostly herbaceous ornamental plants and field crops, such as Anemone, Anthurium, Begonia, Cyclamen, Euphorbia, Gerbera, Kalanchoe, Limonium, Rosa, certain aquatic plants, corn, cucumbers, peppers, pomegranate, tomatoes, and certain herbs.

Invasive pest in the US

The first record of Duponchelia fovealis in North America was in California where live larvae were detected in a shipment of begonias at a Home Depot in the city of Concord in Contra Costa County from the city of San Marcos in San Diego County (CDFA, NAPIS, 2005). In the spring of 2005, this species was discovered in three greenhouses in southern Ontario, Canada. In July, 2010, four male moths were collected in a pheromone trap in San Diego County, California. It is not known at this time if there is an established population.

On November 1, 2010, the USDA-AHIS announced this moth was present in at least 13 U.S. states

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duponchelia_fovealis

Photos Geri  by George Konstantinou

                                                                           Male

                                                                             Female

Small blood-vein - Scopula imitaria (Hübner, 1799) - Cyprus

See also - List of Moths of Cyprus you will find in this blog (Lepidoptera)

 Family Geometridae.

Scopula imitaria, the small blood-vein, is a moth of the family Geometridae. It was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1799 and it is found throughout Europe and in North Africa.

Description

The wingspan is 12–26 mm. (1st generation); the next generation is typically much smaller and reaches no more than 18 mm. The forewing leading edge (costa) forms an acute angle with the outer edge forming a sharp point. The hindwings also come to a sharp angle in the middle of the outer edge (a "tail"). The pattern and colouring are variable. The wings are reddish, yellowish or orange to light brown. The lines and marginal line are almost always clear, but fine. The median crossline is clearly developed and inclined slightly diagonally to the inner and outer crossline. It is slightly curved and very weakly wavy and often accompanied by a distal facing shadow. The interior and exterior crosslines are slightly wavy (more clearly than the median line). The hindwings have the pattern, however they often lack the inner crossline. The outer cross line shows a pointed bulge outwards, which follows the "tail" of the perimeter. Discal flecks are only sometimes present or weak, They are more pronounced on the hindwing. The discal fleck of the hindwings sits on the outside of the medium line or in the "shadow". On the forewing it is basal to the median line.

Photos  Potamia by George Konstantinou

The egg is elongate-ovate, strongly flattened at its broader end, with the longitudinal ribbing strong, its colouration is whitish yellow, becoming orange as in the allied species. The larva is extremely long and slender, the skin transversely and very irregularly wrinkled. The head is small and rounded. The body is pale ochreous with a distinct brown dorsal line, often partly broken up into spots anteriorly, but becoming darker and more continuous posteriorly; ventral surface mixed with fuscous. The spiracles are black. Varieties occur in which the ground-colour is more grey, or more tinged with greenish or with red-brown, but it is always of some pale shade. The pupa is golden brown, with ochreous yellow wing-cases.

Distribution

The species is mostly southern European (from Portugal to the Balkan peninsula and Greece) as well as North African (from Morocco to Libya). It ranges in the east to Asia Minor and Syria. It also occurs in almost the whole of France to the south of the British Isles and Denmark. Also specimens have been caught in southern Germany. There are small, isolated occurrences in western Ukraine. In Germany, there are but so far no secure evidence of an indigenous population. In the Middle East, in southern Turkey, Cyprus, Crete and the Greek islands of the south-east, the nominate S. i. imitaria is replaced by S. i. syriaca Culot, 1918. This form is less clearly has a little less corrugated outer cross line and a less clearly pronounced marginal line. The colour is slightly reddish. The reddish yellow form S. i. syriaca occurs especially on hot, dry areas in the lowlands and hills. It is widespread in the Mediterranean region on sandy or stony soil, the maquis shrubland, evergreen oak forests, olive groves and rocky grassland. In the Alps, S. i. imitaria rises up to 900 m. In Morocco and also in the Mediterranean region it rises up to a height of 1,400 meters. S. i. imitaria is limited to the coastal areas in western France and southern England.

The moth flies in two generations from June to September in western Europe.

The larvae feed on various forms of privet.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Obscure wainscot - Leucania obsoleta (Hübner, 1803) - Cyprus

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 Family: Noctuidae

Leucania obsoleta, the obscure wainscot, is a moth of the superfamily Noctuoidea. The species was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1803. It is found in Europe.

The length of the forewings is 15–18 mm. The moth flies in one generation from early May to late July

he larvae feed on Phragmites species.

The flight season refers to Belgium and the Netherlands. This may vary in other parts of the range.

Photos  Potamia by George Konstantinou

Gnophos sartata (Treitschke, 1827) - Cyprus

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Family Geometridae

Gnophos is a genus in the geometer moth family (Geometridae). A mostly Old World lineage, it is abundant in the Palearctic, with some North American species as well; in Europe six species are recorded. This genus has about 120 known species altogether in several recognized subgenera, with new ones still being discovered occasionally.

This is the type genus of the tribe Gnophini in subfamily Ennominae, which some authors include in the Boarmiini.

Photos  by George Konstantinou

Phaiogramma etruscaria (Zeller, 1849) - Cyprus

 See also - List of Moths of Cyprus you will find in this blog (Lepidoptera)

Phaiogramma etruscaria is a species of moth of the family Geometridae.

Description

Phaiogramma etruscaria has a wingspan reaching 17.7-19.3 mm in males, 20-23.3 mm in the females. Wings are light green, with clearly visible white antemedial lines and small marbled striations. Hind tibia bear only terminal spurs in males, two pairs of spurs in females. Antennae are ciliate in males, while in females they are filiform. Adults are on wing from May to June. There is one generation per year. The pupae overwinter.

The larvae are polyphagous and feed on various Apiaceae (Anethum graveolens, Bupleurum, Foeniculum vulgare, Daucus, Ferula, Peucedanum) and on Thapsus, Lotus, Clematis and Rosmarinus.

Distribution

It is found from the Mediterranean Sea area of Europe to central Asia. Records include Russia, Italy, France, the Crimea, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.

Habitat

This species inhabits warm scrubs and xerophilous hillsides.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos  at Geri  by George Konstantinou