''Yponomeuta plumbella'' 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 ...
from the family
Yponomeutidae
: ''Certain members of the unrelated snout moths (Pyralidae) are also known as "ermine moths." Spilosoma lubricipeda is an unrelated moth with the common name "white ermine."''
The family Yponomeutidae are known as the ermine moths, with severa ...
, the ermine moths.
Distribution
This species is widespread in most of Europe and in Asia Minor.
[Funet]
/ref>
Description
The wingspan of ''Yponomeuta plumbella'' ranges from 16 to 20 millimeters.[UK Moths]
/ref> In the imago
In biology, the imago (Latin for "image") is the last stage an insect attains during its metamorphosis, its process of growth and development; it is also called the imaginal stage, the stage in which the insect attains maturity. It follows the f ...
the fore wings are white punctuated with three rows of very small black spots (hence the family name of '' ermine moths'') while the hindwings are greyish. These moths are clearly distinguished from related species by the larger black splotch in the middle of the inner rim of the forewing and the black marking at the tip of the forewing.[ The legs and the long antennae are white.
The larvae are straw-yellow in the first ]instar
An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'', "form", "likeness") is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, between each moult (''ecdysis''), until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to grow or ass ...
, with black spots on the sides. The head is yellow. At the end of its development, the caterpillar can reach a length of .[David V. Alfor]
Pests of Ornamental Trees, Shrubs and Flowers: A Color Handbook
/ref>
Habitat
These moths inhabit fields and parks where the host plant grows.
Biology
Eggs are laid by the female in autumn on twigs and branches. The eggs hatch by releasing tiny caterpillars that at first feed within the shoots of the host plant. The caterpillars then become gregarious. As they grow they gather together and weave webs that may eventually envelop a whole tree. They develop by protecting themselves in these silk webs that constitute a collective nest.[ There are five larval instars in all.
The larva then forms a ]pupa
A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...
. The adults begin to appear in April and May and can be found again in August. There are two generations per year, as it is a bivoltine
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.
...
species.[ The moths fly at night and are attracted to light.
The host plant of this moth is the European spindle (]Euonymus europaeus
''Euonymus europaeus'', the spindle, European spindle, or common spindle, is a species of flowering plant in the family (biology), family Celastraceae, native plant, native to much of Europe, where it inhabits the edges of forest, hedges and gent ...
.[ Other ermine moths that use this plant as their host are '']Yponomeuta cagnagella
''Yponomeuta cagnagella'', the spindle ermine, is a moth from the family Yponomeutidae
: ''Certain members of the unrelated snout moths (Pyralidae) are also known as "ermine moths." Spilosoma lubricipeda is an unrelated moth with the common na ...
'' and '' Yponomeuta irrorella''.
Gallery
File: Yponomeutidae - Yponomeuta plumbella - Collective nests.JPG, Collective nests
File: Yponomeuta plumbella (2943688377).jpg, Dorsal view
File:Yponomeuta.plumbellus.mounted.jpg, Mounted specimen
References
External links
Observation
Lepiforum
{{Taxonbar, from=Q457848
Moths described in 1775
Yponomeutidae
Moths of Europe