''Blastobasis adustella'' is a species of

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

Blastobasidae The Blastobasidae are a family of moths in the superfamily Gelechioidea. Its species can be found almost anywhere in the world, though in some places they are not native but introduced by humans. In some arrangements, these moths are included in t ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n region, but was introduced in western Europe and is now reported from

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

and the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

Description

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 15–20 mm. Adults are on wing from August to September. The larvae feed on a variety of foodstuffs, including decaying vegetable matter as well as the seedheads of wild teasel (''

Dipsacus fullonum ''Dipsacus fullonum'', syn. ''Dipsacus sylvestris'', is a species of flowering plant known by the common names wild teasel or fuller's teasel, although the latter name is usually applied to the cultivated variety ''D. fullonum'' var. ''sativus' ...

'') in Europe.

Taxonomy

The name ''Blastobasis lignea'' has often been used for records now considered as ''Blastobasis adustella''.Karsholt O. & Sinev S.Yu. (2004) Contribution to the Lepidoptera fauna of the Madeira Islands Part 4: Blastobasidae. ''Beitr. Ent.'' 54(2): 387–463.
/ref> A taxonomic revision by Karsholt & Sinev reclassifies Walsingham's original ''B. lignea'' specimen as ''

Blastobasis vittata ''Blastobasis vittata'' is a moth of the family Blastobasidae. It was thought to be endemic to Madeira but is now known to inhabit the Netherlands, France, the Channel Islands, England and Northern Ireland. Taxonomy The name ''Blastobasis lign ...

'', making ''lignea'' properly the junior synonym of ''vittata''. ''B. adustella'' was originally described by Walshingham as a variety of ''B. lignea''.

References

External links

Azores Bioportal
nbsp; Blastobasis Moths described in 1894 Moths of Australia Moths of Europe Taxa named by Thomas de Grey, 6th Baron Walsingham {{Blastobasis-stub