Agriphila geniculea

Agriphila geniculea
A live individual of Agriphila geniculea
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Crambidae
Genus: Agriphila
Species: A. geniculea
Binomial name
Agriphila geniculea
(Haworth, 1811)
Synonyms
  • Palparia geniculea Haworth, 1811
  • Agriphila geniculea andalusiellus (Caradja, 1910)
  • Crambus angulatellus Duponchel, 1836
  • Crambus suspectellus Zeller, 1839
  • Tinea imistella Hübner, 1813

[1]

Agriphila geniculea, also known as Elbow-striped Grass-veneer, is a species of moth of the family Crambidae.

Subspecies

[1]

Distribution and habitat

This species can be found in most of Europe and parts of North Africa. [2] It usually occurs in dry pastures, grassy area, sand-dunes, gardens and grassland. [3]

Description

The wingspan is 20–26 mm. The forewings usually show two strongly curved cross-lines, but sometimes these lines are not visible. [3]

Agriphila geniculea

This species is very similar to Agriphila tolli and Agriphila inquinatella . It can be distinguished from the first on the basis of the higher distance that separates said cross-lines. [4] Moreover in A. geniculea forewings are crossed by a couple of chevrons, while A. inquinatella is longitudinally variably streaked. [5]

Biology

The species has one generation. The moth flies at dusk from July to October depending on the location. When disturbed they come to light. The larvae can be found from late September to early May, as they winter in the larval stage. They feed within stems of Festuca ovina and various other grasses. [3] They inhabit silken galleries, camouflaged with excrements, at the base of small grasses. Sometimes they leave these galleries and curl themselves tightly in a coil along the stem-bases of grasses. [3][6][4]

Mounted specimen

References

  1. 1 2 Funet
  2. ↑ Fauna europaea
  3. 1 2 3 4 Agriphila geniculea at UKmoths
  4. 1 2 G. Doremi
  5. ↑ Hantsmoths
  6. ↑ Lepidoptera of Belgium

External links

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