Pancalia nodosella
Pancalia nodosella is a butterfly (moth ) from the family of the splendor butterfly ( Cosmopterigidae ).
Features
The moths reach a wingspan of 12-14 millimeters. Of the similar species Pancalia black ella and Pancalia baldizzonella to P. nodosella distinguished by the following features: The orange-brown area on the fore wings is more pronounced in P. nodosella. The first Costalfleck and the first Dorsalfleck are fused and form a sloping inwards napkin that reaches almost to the wing inner edge. The second subdorsal line spot is reduced to a few, pale gold-colored scales or absent. In females, the sensors are abrupt and thickened up to three times thicker than at the base. The scales are distinct from in this area.
In the males, the Valven are roughly equal in length, the left is slightly wider and has a strongly concave ventral margin, while the ventral edge of the right Valve is almost straight. The Valvellae are short. The left Valvella has 1 /3 of the length of the left Valve, the right Valvella has 1 /6 of the length of the right Valve. The aedeagus has a sharply tapering apex, which is provided with a number of needles.
In females, the sterigma is only weakly sclerotized. The ostium has on the back of a slightly curved, heavily sclerotized edge. The ductus bursae widens slightly towards corpus bursae. In the section between the ductus seminalis and corpus bursae it runs in a complete loop. The corpus bursae is egg-shaped and has two very small and indistinct Signa. Characteristic of the style are the shape of the sterigma, the bursae coiled ductus bursae and the small signals of the corpus.
Dissemination
Pancalia nodosella is native to North and Central Europe. In the north, the range extends up to the sandy beaches of Holland and Latvia, to the east it extends beyond the Caucasus and Central Asia to Kyrgyzstan. In the West the way through France and Spain is spread to Portugal.
Biology
The caterpillars develop on sand pansy ( Viola tricolor curtisii ). They live from June to July and nate first in the petiole and occasionally in the leaves, a space is created mine. Later, they skeletonize the leaf tops. Sometimes the caterpillars nate in the flower stems, creating a striking long whitish burrow is formed. The last stages bore into the stems, the ocher-colored or light brown Raupenkot is ejected through the entrance hole and collects in the leaf axils. At this stage, the epidermis of the stem are eaten, resulting in withering of the plant. The food place is surrounded by a slight cocoon in which the caterpillar move quite fast in their feeding transitions back and forth. The feeding tunnels extend later into the ground where the caterpillars feed on the bark of the roots. They pupate in late summer in a solid, covered with sand silk cocoon between the roots. The moths fly on sunny days from mid-April to early June.
System
From the literature, the following synonyms are known:
- Oecophora nodosella Bruand,