''Gillmeria pallidactyla'' 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

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 assemblag ...

first described by the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 ...

Adrian Hardy Haworth Adrian is a form of the Latin given name Adrianus or Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria from the Venetic and Illyrian word ''adur'', meaning "sea" or "water". The Adria was until the 8th century BC the main ...

in 1811. It has a

Holarctic The Holarctic realm is a biogeographic realm that comprises the majority of habitats found throughout the continents in the Northern Hemisphere. It corresponds to the floristic Boreal Kingdom. It includes both the Nearctic zoogeographical region ...

distribution and is widespread throughout North America and the

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

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 . The frontal tuft and palpi are very long The posterior tibiae below the middle -spurs are wholly light brown. The ferruginous-ochreous,clouded with yellow-whitish forewings have a subfalcate apex. The costal edge is dark fuscous; a darker triangular suffusion on costa beyond middle apex forms a darker dot, and this is followed by a whitish costal spot and an ochreous-whitish subterminal line.The apical 2/3 of the terminal cilia is white. The hindwings are dark ochreous-fuscous with a small scale-tooth in the middle. The larva is green with the dorsal line darker or somewhat brownish-tinged ; subdorsal and lateral grey-whitish. Th subspiracular is white and the head whitish -yellowish

Biology

Adult An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a " minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of major ...

s are on wing from June to July in Europe and from June to August in northern North America. They hide amongst low foliage during the day. They become active from dusk onwards. The

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

e bore into the stem in the autumn and overwinter in the roots. In the spring they feed on a succession of shoots causing them to wilt. They mainly feed on ''

Achillea ''Achillea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, known colloquially as yarrows. The plants typically have frilly leaves. The common name "yarrow" usually refers to '' A. millefolium''. The genus was named after the Gre ...

'' species including sneezewort (''

Achillea ptarmica ''Achillea ptarmica'' is a European species of herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the genus ''Achillea'' of the daisy family Asteraceae. Common names include the sneezewort, sneezeweed, bastard pellitory, European pellitory, fair-maid-of-Fr ...

'') and yarrow (''

Achillea millefolium ''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Other common names include old man's pepper, devil's nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldier's woundwort, and thousand seal. The ...

''), but rarely also on tansy (''

Tanacetum vulgare Tansy (''Tanacetum vulgare'') is a perennial, herbaceous flowering plant in the genus ''Tanacetum'' in the aster family, native to temperate Europe and Asia. It has been introduced to other parts of the world, including North America, and in ...

'') and ''

Tanacetum corymbosum ''Tanacetum corymbosum'' is a species of flowering plant belonging to the family Asteraceae. Its native range is Europe to Western Siberia Western Siberia or West Siberia (russian: Западная Сибирь, Zapadnaya Sibir'; kk, Бат ...

''.

Similar species

This species is superficially similar to '' Gillmeria ochrodactyla'' which has brown and white bands on its hindlegs below the middle spurs, whereas the legs of ''G pallidactyla'' are not banded.

References

External links

* * Platyptiliini Moths described in 1811 Moths of Asia Moths of Europe Moths of North America Taxa named by Adrian Hardy Haworth {{Platyptilini-stub