Blastodacna atra

Blastodacna atra, the apple pith moth is a moth of the family Elachistidae. It is known from most of Europe and it has been introduced to North America.

Blastodacna atra
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Agonoxenidae
Genus:
Blastodacna
Species:
B. atra
Binomial name
Blastodacna atra
(Haworth, 1828)[1]
Synonyms
  • Recurvaria atra Haworth, 1828
  • Elachista putripennella Zeller 1839

Description

The wingspan is 11–13 mm. The head is white. Forewings are narrow, dark fuscous ; a broad white dorsal streak, sprinkled with dark fuscous from base to tornus, with broad triangular indentation at 2/5, including a black scale-tuft ; from apex of this streak a slender whitish fascia to costa before apex, emitting a branch posteriorly in middle and sometimes one anteriorly below it ; a black scale-tuft in disc before this.Hindwings are grey. [2]

Adults are on wing from May to September in western Europe.[3]

The larvae mine inside young shoots of apples (Malus species) and can be found by looking for small heaps of frass. Occasionally there may be a small swelling and the young shoot may die off.[4]

Distribution

The apple pith moth is found in most of Europe. It is an introduced species in North America, where it has been recorded from Massachusetts and Ontario.

References
  1. "Blastodacna atra (Haworth, 1828)". Fauma Europaea. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  2. Meyrick, E., 1895 A Handbook of British Lepidoptera MacMillan, London pdf This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. Keys and description
  3. Kimber, Ian. "39.002 BF906 Apple Pith Moth Blastodacna atra (Haworth, 1828)". UKmoths. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  4. Ellis, W N. "Blastodacna atra (Haworth, 1828) apple pith moth". Plant Parasites of Europe. Retrieved 15 April 2020.


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