''Agonopterix rotundella'' is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

of the family Depressariidae and is found in most of Europe. It was first described from moths found in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, England by the

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

John Douglas in 1846.

Life cycle

Imago

The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

is 14–17 mm. The forewings are rather narrow, pale greyish-ochreous, sometimes somewhat fuscous sprinkled posteriorly; subbasal mark of dorsum reduced to a dark fuscous dot; first discal stigma absent, a black dot obliquely before and above its usual position, second black dark fuscous terminal dots, sometimes indistinct. Hindwings whitish-grey, darker terminally. The larva is green; dorsal and subdorsal lines darker; head and plate of 2 black Adults are on wing from September to May, overwintering as an adult.

Eggs

In Great Britain and Ireland, eggs are laid on the leaves of wild carrot (''

Daucus carota ''Daucus carota'', whose common names include wild carrot, European wild carrot, bird's nest, bishop's lace, and Queen Anne's lace (North America), is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae. It is native to temperate regions of the Old Wor ...

'') during May. Elsewhere in Europe eggs are also laid on ''

Laserpitium gallicum ''Laserpitium'' is a genus of plants of the family Apiaceae. Selected species *'' Laserpitium gallicum'' L. *'' Laserpitium gaudinii'' Moretti *'' Laserpitium halleri'' Crantz *''Laserpitium latifolium'' L. – broad-leaved sermountain *'' ...

'' and '' Distichoselinum tenuifolium''.

Larva

The intermediate and later instars of ''A. ciliella feed on a variety of

umbelliferous Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus ''Apium'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering plants ...

plants; larvae of this species and ''A. rotundella'' should be reared to confirm the identification.

Pupa

Found in the soil or amongst detritus.

Distribution

The moth is found in most of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, except

Fennoscandia __NOTOC__ Fennoscandia (Finnish language, Finnish, Swedish language, Swedish and no, Fennoskandia, nocat=1; russian: Фенноскандия, Fennoskandiya) or the Fennoscandian Peninsula is the geographical peninsula in Europe, which includes ...

and most of the

Balkan Peninsula The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

. In Britain, although the type species was found inland it is now confined to coasts. Also found in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

References

External links

*
British Lepidoptera
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4693484 Agonopterix Moths described in 1846 Moths of Asia Moths of Europe Taxa named by John William Douglas