''Thyris fenestrella'', commonly known as the pygmy, 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
Thyrididae
The Thyrididae comprise the family of picture-winged leaf moths. They are the only family in the superfamily Thyridoidea, which sometimes has been included in the Pyraloidea, but this isn't supported by cladistic analysis.
Most species live in t ...
.
Distribution
This species can be found in central and southern Europe and Asia Minor. The species is most frequent in southern Europe.
Habitat
These thermophilous moths mainly inhabit coastal environments, warm forest edges, sunny slopes with calcareous soil, scrub and hedgerows where the host plant grows.
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Description
''Thyris fenestrella'' has a 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 ...
of 15–20 mm. The basic color of the wings is grayish- dusky brown. The frontwings have some orange dots along the front edge and a distinctive slightly translucent whitish patch in the middle of each wing. These almost transparent areas are similar to windows (hence the Latin species name ''fenestrella'', meaning ''small window''). Two of such ''windows'' are present also in the middle of the hindwings. The abdomen is blackish-brown, with some slight white cross bands.[Vlindernet.nl]
[Łukasz Dawidowic]
Confirmation of the occurrence of Thyris fenestrella in Poland and remarks about its biology
Zoologica Poloniae (2015) 60/1. 5-9
The caterpillars can reach a length of about . They are yellowish or olive green with a slightly transparent skin and numerous large black verrucae. The head is dark brown. Pupa are stubby and reddish brown.[
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Biology
This species has two generations a year, hibernating as a chrysalis. Adults are on wing from May until mid-August. They are particularly active in sunny days. The larvae feed on ''Clematis vitalba
''Clematis vitalba'' (also known as old man's beard and traveller's joy) is a shrub of the family Ranunculaceae.
Description
''Clematis vitalba'' is a climbing shrub with branched, grooved stems, deciduous leaves, and scented greeny-white flo ...
'',[Paolo Mazzei, Daniel Morel, Raniero Panfil]
Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa
/ref> '' Sambucus nigra'', '' Arctium lappa'' and are found in July and August.
References
*Zagulajev. A. K. 1987 - Family Thyrididae
External links
Lepiforum.de
Thyrididae
Moths of Europe
Moths of Asia
Taxa named by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli
{{Thyrididae-stub