''Zophodia analamprella'' is a species of
snout moth in the genus ''
Zophodia
''Zophodia'' is a genus of snout moths in the subfamily Phycitinae. It was erected by Jacob Hübner in 1825.
Species
* '' Zophodia epischnioides'' Hulst, 1900
* ''Zophodia grossulariella'' (Hübner, 1809)
* '' Zophodia multistriatella'' (A. Bl ...
''. It was described by
Harrison Gray Dyar Jr. in 1922. It is found in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
and is possibly also present in
Paraguay
Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
.
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 about 25 mm. The forewings are dark grey brown with a broad, white stripe along the anterior margin. The hindwings are pearly white, with dusky outer edges. There are probably at least three generations per year.
The larvae are either
herbivorous or
carnivorous
A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other sof ...
. In the early summer, the larvae attack the flower buds, flowers, young fruit, and young growth of ''
Opuntia
''Opuntia'', commonly called prickly pear or pear cactus, is a genus of flowering plants in the cactus family Cactaceae. Prickly pears are also known as ''tuna'' (fruit), ''sabra'', ''nopal'' (paddle, plural ''nopales'') from the Nahuatl word f ...
'' species, while in the late summer and autumn they are predacious on cochineal mealy bugs of the genus ''
Dactylopius
''Dactylopius'' is a genus of insect in the superfamily Coccoidea, the scale insects. It is the only genus in the family Dactylopiidae.Van Dam, A. R. and B. May. (2012)A new species of ''Dactylopius'' Costa (''Dactylopius gracilipilus'' sp. nov.) ...
'', which feed on prickly pear. The larvae live singly in tunnels in the segments beneath the cochineal cultures. If all mealy bugs have been eaten before the larva is full grown, it may extend the tunnel for some distance and complete its development as a plant feeder. The larvae are grey green or black green. Pupation takes place in a white cocoon among debris around the host plant.
References
Moths described in 1922
Phycitini
{{Phycitini-stub