Evergestis marionalis
Evergestis marionalis is a butterfly of the family of Crambiden ( Crambidae ).
Features
The moths reach a wingspan of 18-20 millimeters. Head, thorax and abdomen are light coffee brown yellowish brown to pale. The forewing shining lemon-yellow. The inner and outer transverse line are thin, serrated and inconspicuous, the Subterminallinie is strongly serrated. Basal to the former, there is a violet-brown line that tapers from the Costa loader to the internal wing edge. Basal to Subterminallinie is as broad and similarly colored band that approaches almost to the outer transverse line. Along the seam runs a narrow reddish- brown band, which has a number of very small yellowish points between the wire ends. It is more or less connected to the outer cross belt. The square Diskalfleck has the same color and may be associated with the pale dark stripes on the Costa loader. The fringe scales are purple and dark brown in the basal third. The hind wings are marked dirty straw yellow and with a weak and incomplete outer transverse line. On the wing outer edge located between the wire ends some dark spots. The fringe scales are straw colored yellow. The undersides shine strong and the drawing pattern of the tops is faintly discernible. There are also instances in which dark bands are stronger and therefore closer to one another.
In the male the uncus is slim and has at the top a sparse tuft of hair. The Gnathos incised very thin and irregular. The Valven are parallel-walled and have a rounded tip. The clamp member ( Clasper ) is missing. The distal part of the phallus is slightly narrower than the basal part, it is provided with about 8 slim Cornuti. Evergestis marionalis differs from Evergestis politalis by the shorter Valven, the shorter uncus and the shorter phallus with smaller Cornuti.
In females, the corpus bursae is large and ovoid. It tapers and merges into the ductus bursae. The signals are very small. The ductus bursae has a medium width and not tapered. Before Colliculum there is a lobe-shaped protuberance ( diverticulum ). Evergestis marionalis differs from Evergestis politalis through the dilated antrum, the short, weakly sclerotized ductus bursae with parallel sides and the long oval bursa with two small signals.
Similar Species
Evergestis marionalis can be confused only with Evergestis politalis. The former type is but mostly much smaller and the thorax is always coffee brown and not yellow. The forewings are narrower, have a straighter Costa loader and the wing outer edge is oblique. The drawing is less powerful and lacks the complex pattern of darkened veins in midfield.
The hind wings are usually darker in E. politalis and have a clearly drawn outer transverse line and a dark shadow on the wing outer edge. The undersides are drawn much stronger. The hind wings are decorated with a dark, full outer transverse line and have a darkened subterminal Saumfeld.
Dissemination
Evergestis marionalis is in southeastern France ( Aude department, department of Pyrénées -Orientales ), Spain, Malta and North Africa (Algeria, Morocco Ifrane Province, Tunisia) spread.
Biology
The preimaginal stages are unknown, the caterpillars probably live on cruciferous plants. It makes at least two generations, flying from February to March and from July to October ( after Leraut 2012 May to June and from September to November). In the Middle Atlas, the species was found up to 1650 meters. In Spain they inhabited open, dry, rocky regions. The moths come to light.
System
Evergestis marionalis is known in the literature under the name Evergestis bifascialis. After Leraut 2003, the name bifascialis Guenée is a synonym of Evergestis politalis and represents a subspecies of the latter type, which is native to Sicily and North Africa.