Plutella porrectella
| Plutella porrectella | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Plutella porrectella |
||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Plutella porrectella | ||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
Plutella porrectella is a butterfly from the family of the veil and half moths (Plutellidae).
description
The moths reach a wingspan of 14 to 17 millimeters. They have light gray or light ocher yellow colored forewings on which three, step-like staggered brown or gray-brown longitudinal lines can be seen. The outer edge of the wing is long fringed and colored darker than the longitudinal lines on the edge. The antennae have three dark rings near the tip.
The caterpillars are usually about 10 millimeters long, but there is also a variation that only reaches about eight millimeters in length. They are yellow-green in color (variation yellow-brown) and the sides of the thorax have a slightly grayish tinge. This can be seen particularly in the yellow-brown variant. Numerous small, dark points are distributed on the body and a slightly dark longitudinal line runs on the back. You have loose dark hair. The head capsule is brown and has dark brown spots. The slightly chitinized prothorax has about 20 small dark brown spots on the top.
Way of life
The nocturnal moths stay near their forage plants and are easily startled during the day.
Flight and caterpillar times
They fly in two generations in May and July and August. The caterpillars live from April to May and from June to July.
Food of the caterpillars
The caterpillars feed on common night violet ( Hesperis matronalis ), on which they spin or roll up leaves with silk.
development
The caterpillars pupate in a white web, which is very large-meshed, on the underside of the leaves of their forage plants. The light green pupae are approx. 9 millimeters long and move restlessly when disturbed. Her head, on which you can easily see the black eyes, is reddish brown in color.
