''Palpita nigropunctalis'', the lilac pyralid, 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

Crambidae The Crambidae are the grass moth family of lepidopterans. They are variable in appearance, the nominal subfamily Crambinae (grass moths) taking up closely folded postures on grass stems where they are inconspicuous, while other subfamilies includ ...

. It is found in eastern Asia, including

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

(Hebei, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Zhejiang, Henan, Hubei, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Shaanxi),

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

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 ...

and the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admini ...

(Siberia, Kuriles, Sakhalin). 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 29–31 mm. Adults are on wing from April to October. Adults are on wing from late March to early April, from mid May to early June and from early September to mid November in Japan. There are three generations per year. The larvae feed on the flowers, fruits and leaves of ''

Ligustrum A privet is a flowering plant in the genus ''Ligustrum''. The genus contains about 50 species of erect, deciduous or evergreen shrubs, sometimes forming small or medium-sized trees, native to Europe, north Africa, Asia, many introduced and nat ...

'' species, including ''

Ligustrum japonicum ''Ligustrum japonicum'', known as wax-leaf privet or Japanese privet ( ja, ネズミモチ) is a species of ''Ligustrum'' (privet) native to central and southern Japan ( Honshū, Shikoku, Kyūshū, Okinawa) and Korea. It is widely cultivated in ...

'' and ''

Ligustrum lucidum ''Ligustrum lucidum'', the broad-leaf privet,Weed profile: Privet
New So ...

''. They have also been recorded on ''

Fraxinus mandschurica ''Fraxinus mandshurica'', the Manchurian ash, is a species of ''Fraxinus'' native to northeastern Asia in northern China (Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Jilin, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Shanxi), Korea, Japan and southeastern Russia ( Sakhali ...

''. First-instar larvae occur three times per year in Japan (in late April to early May, mid to late September and early to mid October).

References

Moths described in 1864 Palpita Moths of Asia {{Palpita-stub