Pterophoridae : Pterophorinae
Dingy White Plume
MERRIFIELDIA baliodactylus (Zeller, 1841)
Dingy White Plume
MERRIFIELDIA baliodactylus (Zeller, 1841)
Life Cycle Guide
Description
Wingspan: 20 - 27mm
Worldwide Distribution: Europe - ( Excluding - Azores,Balearic Is.,Canary s.,Channel Is.,Corsica,Crete,Cyprus,Ireland,Madeira,Malta,Sardinia and Slovenia)
UK Distribution: Southern counties of England - rare otherwise
UK Conservation Status -
Habitat: Chalk and Limestone Grassland : Coastal Cliffs : Quarries : Waste Ground
Similar Species -
Overwinters as: Larva
Observations: The fore cleft into lobes occurs at about half the forewing length tapering to apex with indistict dark brown narrow line along the costa which is joined by a prominent dark brown spot just beyond half. ( See photo 2 for identification)
The moth is easily disturbed during the day from host plant,flies from dusk and is atracted to light.
Worldwide Distribution: Europe - ( Excluding - Azores,Balearic Is.,Canary s.,Channel Is.,Corsica,Crete,Cyprus,Ireland,Madeira,Malta,Sardinia and Slovenia)
UK Distribution: Southern counties of England - rare otherwise
UK Conservation Status -
- Nationally Scarce B (Nb - BAP : 1997) = 31 - 100 10Km Squares
- Least Concern
- Pterophorus baliodactylus (Zeller, 1841)
- Phalaena tridactyla Linnaeus, 1758
- Not Specified
Habitat: Chalk and Limestone Grassland : Coastal Cliffs : Quarries : Waste Ground
Similar Species -
- None
Overwinters as: Larva
Observations: The fore cleft into lobes occurs at about half the forewing length tapering to apex with indistict dark brown narrow line along the costa which is joined by a prominent dark brown spot just beyond half. ( See photo 2 for identification)
The moth is easily disturbed during the day from host plant,flies from dusk and is atracted to light.
Photo Gallery
Larval Food Plants Worldwide
Note - Plants hyperlinked in red below take the visitor to the relevant plant page on"Plants for a Future" website where further information like photos,physical characteristics,habitats,edible uses,medicinal uses,cultivation,propagation,range,height etc. are clearly listed.
Plant Families - in bold red below takes the visitor to the relevant "Lepi-plants" page where other butterflies & moths using the plants below are listed.
Plant Families - in bold red below takes the visitor to the relevant "Lepi-plants" page where other butterflies & moths using the plants below are listed.
- Lamiaceae - Labiatae - The Mint Family
- Origanum vulgare - Oregano - Wild Marjoram - Sweet marjoram
- Origanum vulgare - Oregano - Wild Marjoram - Sweet marjoram
Larval Food Plants
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Taxonomy
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Kingdom:
Subkingdom: Phylum: Subphylum: Class: Order: Superfamily: Family: Subfamily: Genus: Accepted Species Name: Type Species - MERRIFIELDIA: Original Species Name: Species Names: Literary Ref: Type Locality: |
Animalia
Eumetozoa Arthropoda Hexapoda Insecta Lepidoptera Pterophoroidea Pterophoridae Pterophorinae MERRIFIELDIA Tutt 1905 Merrifieldia baliodactylus (Zeller, 1841) - Phalaena tridactyla Linnaeus, 1758 - PTEROPHORUS baliodactylus (Zeller, 1841) = Merrifieldia baliodactyla (Zeller, 1841) - Isis von Oken by Oken, Lorenz, 1779-1851 Volume v.34 1841 : Title Page : p.861 - D (31) 5 Pteroph. baliodactylus - Not Specified |