''Oidaematophorus lithodactyla'', also known as the dusky plume, 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 ...

found from Europe to

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. It was first described by

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

lepidopterist Lepidopterology ()) is a branch of entomology concerning the scientific study of moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies. Someone who studies in this field is a lepidopterist or, archaically, an aurelian. Origins Post-Renaissance, t ...

Georg Friedrich Treitschke Georg Friedrich Treitschke (; 29 August 1776 – 4 June 1842) was a German libretto, librettist, translator and lepidopterist. He was born in Leipzig and died in Vienna. In 1800 he came to the Vienna Hofoper. From 1809 to 1814 he was principal ...

in 1833.

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 middle tibiae are thickened with scales in the middle and at the apex. The forewings are pale brown, irregularly mixed with grey-whitish and irrorated with black. There is a blackish subcrescentic posteriorly white-edged mark before the fissure and an elongate blackish mark on costa near beyond it and some blackish marginal dots towards the apex. The cilia are dark grey, somewhat whitish-mixed. The hindwings are rather dark fuscous with a darker dot at apex of segments. Diagnostic - a greyish forewing with an angled darker marking just inside the cleft. Adults are on wing in July and August in

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

and

northeastern Europe Northeastern Europe may refer to: * the Baltic region * a part of Europe centered on Finland including neighboring territories * Northwest Russia Northwest Russia, or the Russian North is the northern part of western Russia. It is bounded by Nor ...

. 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 feed on common fleabane (''

Pulicaria dysenterica ''Pulicaria dysenterica'', the common fleabane, or, in North America, meadow false fleabane, is a species of fleabane in the family Asteraceae. It is native to Europe and western Asia where it grows in a variety of habitats ranging from semi-ari ...

'') and ploughman's-spikenard (''

Inula conyza ''Pentanema squarrosum'', known as ploughman's-spikenard, is a species of plant in the family Asteraceae found in Europe, North Africa, and the Near East.

''). They initially feed in the shoots, but later feed on the leaves. On 2 June 1984, larvae were found feeding on willowleaf yellowhead (''

Inula salicina ''Pentanema salicinum'' (common name Irish fleabane (UK) or willowleaf yellowhead) is a plant species in the family Asteraceae. It is found across Eurasia from Portugal to Japan. It has been reported growing in the wild in a few scattered locati ...

''), in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

References

External links

Taxonomic And Biological Studies Of Pterophoridae Of Japan (Lepidoptera)
Oidaematophorini Moths described in 1833 Plume moths of Asia Plume moths of Europe Treitschke {{Pterophoridae-stub