''Batrachedra praeangusta'' 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

Batrachedridae The Batrachedridae are a small family of tiny moths. These are small, slender moths which rest with their wings wrapped tightly around their bodies. Taxonomy The taxonomy of this and related groups is often disputed. This group was first propos ...

which is native to Europe. It is also found in North America. It was first described by Adrian Haworth in 1828 from the

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes th ...

found in England. The foodplants of the larvae are poplars ('' Populus'' species) and willows (''

Salix Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...

'' species).

Life cycle

The moths have elongated narrow forewings with a

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 o ...

of 14–15 mm. The forewings have a white background, with a mix of sooty black and paler colour and the hindwings are shining grey, becoming lighter towards the end. The moth is univoltine (i.e. one generation a year) flying from mid-June to early-September, and can be found on tree trunks and comes to light.

Ovum

Eggs are laid on various species of poplar including aspen (''

Populus tremula ''Populus tremula'' (commonly called aspen, common aspen, Eurasian aspen, European aspen, or quaking aspen) is a species of poplar native to cool temperate regions of Europe and Asia, from Iceland and the British IslesJames KilkellIrish native ...

''), white poplar (''

Populus alba ''Populus alba'', commonly called silver poplar,Webb, C. J.; Sykes, W. R.; Garnock-Jones, P. J. 1988: Flora of New Zealand. Vol. IV. Naturalised Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms, Dicotyledons. 4. Christchurch, New Zealand, Botany Division, D.S.I.R. si ...

'') and willows, such as goat willow (''

Salix caprea ''Salix caprea'', known as goat willow, pussy willow or great sallow, is a common species of willow native to Europe and western and central Asia.Meikle, R. D. (1984). ''Willows and Poplars of Great Britain and Ireland''. BSBI Handbook 4. . Des ...

'') and white willow (''

Salix alba ''Salix alba'', the white willow, is a species of willow native to Europe and western and central Asia.Meikle, R. D. (1984). ''Willows and Poplars of Great Britain and Ireland''. BSBI Handbook No. 4. .Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain an ...

''). Probably on a twig.

Larva

The head of the larva is brown, lighter in front, while the colour of the body is from yellow-brown to darker brown with pale yellow spots and a broad white line. The

prothoracic The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum (dorsal), the prosternum (ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on ea ...

plate is dark brown and the anal plate is bright yellow. The larva take twenty days to develop and can be found from April to June. The larvae live in female catkins, at first in a mine in the flowers and seeds. Later it feeds from a tough web, retreating when disturbed. The catkins are partly or completely destroyed by the larva. If it runs out of catkins the larva bore into the base of a bud, hollowing it out and ejecting the frass which can be seen in a small pile on the bud.

Pupa

The larva leaves it web and forms a bright-brown slender pupa, in a narrow felt-like cocoon covered in lichen. Often in a crack in the bark of the foodplant. Pupa development takes 10–14 days in June and July.

Distribution

This moth is found in Europe and North America.

References

External links

Microplepidoptera.nl

UK Moths
{{Taxonbar, from=Q148876 Batrachedridae Moths described in 1828 Moths of Europe Moths of North America Taxa named by Adrian Hardy Haworth