Mompha confusella
Mompha confusella is a butterfly (moth ) from the family of Frans moths ( Momphidae ).
- 4.1 Notes and references
Features
The moths reach a wingspan of 11-13 millimeters. The front wings are stretched as in M. divis ella. They are about 4.9 to 5.2 times longer than wide, and the whitish area at the base of the vane inner edge is heavily mottled with brownish gray scales.
In the males, the cucullus is slim and has a rounded tip. Subapical it is slightly curved. The saccule is shorter than the cucullus. It is wide at the base and tapers abruptly to a strongly outwardly curved tip. The Gnathos is large and almost triangular. The aedeagus is provided with three different lengths Cornuti. The left Cornutus is the shortest, it is bifurcated and provided with tiny needles. The mean Cornutus is also bifurcated. The right Cornutus is slim, has a sharp tip and is the longest. The strongly curved outward tip of the saccule, the large triangular Gnathos and the shape of the Cornuti are characteristic of the species.
In females, the eighth tergite is slightly wider than long and rounded front. There is a rear V-shaped sclerotized area not. The sinus vaginalis is wide, cup-shaped and wider than the ductus bursae at the widest point. The confluence of the ductus seminalis is keyhole shaped.
Similar Species
Mompha confusella can be distinguished from the similar nature Mompha divis ella only by a genital examination.
Dissemination
The species is native to Central and South-Eastern Europe. In the east, the range extends to Transcaucasia. After Fauna Europaea Mompha confusella comes in Europe in Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine and Russia.
Biology
The caterpillars develop on shaggy fireweed (Epilobium hirsutum ) and Schmalblättrigem fireweed ( Chamaenerion angustifolium). It is believed that it is due to the feeding activity of the caterpillars in the formation of plant galls.