The longhorn moth or yellow-barred long-horn (''Nemophora degeerella'') is a diurnal lepidopteran from the

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 ...

s family

Adelidae The Adelidae or fairy longhorn moths are a family of monotrysian moths in the lepidopteran infraorder Heteroneura. The family was first described by Charles Théophile Bruand d'Uzelle in 1851. Most species have at least partially metallic pa ...

(fairy longhorn moths).

Distribution and habitat

This species is present on most of Europe, but it is fairly common in north west Europe. The habitat of these moths is damp deciduous forests with wooded lanes and hedgerows.

Description

The wingspan of ''Nemophora degeerella'' ranges from in males, from in females. The head is dark brown, with dark and yellow hair-like scales. The thorax has a bronzy golden shining. Forewings are shiny bronzy golden yellow or shiny ochreous with longitudinal dark brown and lead-gray blueish-violet shining streaks. A yellow transversal band cross the whole forewings, framed by two lead-gray blueish-violet shining stripes with a dark brown border. The three longitudinal lead-gray, blueish-violet shining stripes situated in the basal part of the wings do not treach the transversal fascia. Rear wings are brownish gray. Naturkundliches Informationssystem
/ref> The longhorn moth males have filiform antennae ranging up to five times their body length, while the female has much shorter antennae. Moreover in the females the basal part of the antennae is thickened by black scales, while the tip is white. ''Nemophora degeerella'' is very similar to '' Nemophora congruella'' but ''N. congruella'' is slightly smaller, the forewing markings are bright yellow and the band is located closer to the base. In the females of ''N. congruella'' is missing the beard-like scales present in the basal part of the antennae of the females of ''N. degeerella''. Also '' Adela croesella'' is very similar, but it is much smaller and more colorful. The gray blueish-violet stripes are at least as wide as the yellow central band.

Biology

These moths fly in the day. The flight period ranges from May to July. The caterpillar feeds on

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains ...

leaf litter. The adult moth feeds on ''

Persicaria bistorta ''Bistorta officinalis'' (Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Persicaria bistorta''), known as bistort, common bistort, European bistort or meadow bistort, is a species of flowering plant in the dock family Polygonaceae native plant, native to Europe ...

'', '' Leucanthemum vulgare'' and nettles. This species has a single annual generation (

univoltine Voltinism is a term used in biology to indicate the number of broods or generations of an organism in a year. The term is most often applied to insects, and is particularly in use in sericulture, where silkworm varieties vary in their voltinism. ...

). Hibernation takes place in the form larvae in a cocoon of leaves.

Gallery

File: Nemophora degeerella-07 (xndr).jpg , Lateral view File:Nemophora degeerella.jpg , Mating pair File:Nemophora.degeerella.male.jpg , Male with its long filiform antennae File: Nemophora degeerella BE-MK-7-319a.jpg , Museum specimen

References

Bibliography

* Kozlov, M. V. (2003): Annotated checklist of the European species of Nemophora (Adelidae). - Nota lepidopterologica 26 (3/4): 115-126 * L.N. Perette, F. Spill et M. Rauch, Les Papillons de la Réserve de la Biosphère des Vosges du Nord, Eguelshardt, Cicogna, 33 * Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae, Ed. X. (Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata.) Holmiae. Systema Nat. ed. 10 i-ii + 1-824. * Robinson, G. S. & E. Schmidt Nielsen (1983): The Microlepidoptera described by Linnaeus and Clerck. — Systematic Entomology 8: 191-242. *Küppers, P. V. 1980. Untersuchungen zur Taxonomie und Phylogenie der Westpaläarktischen Adelinae (Lepidoptera: Adelidae), Dissertation, Wissenschaftliche Beiträge Karlsruhe, Verlag M.Wahl, Karlsruhe. *Kurz, M. A. & M. E. Kurz 2000–2010. Naturkundliches Informationssystem.

External links

Norfolk MothsFunet
Taxonomy
''Nemophora degeerella''
on YouTube
Lepiforum.de
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q939526 Adelidae Moths described in 1758 Moths of Europe Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus