| Ash bud moth | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Praydidae |
| Genus: | Prays |
| Species: | P. fraxinella |
| Binomial name | |
| Prays fraxinella Bjerkander, 1784 | |
| Synonyms | |
List
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Prays fraxinella, also known as the ash bud moth, is a moth of the family Plutellidae found in Europe. The larvae are leaf miners, feeding on the leaves and buds of ash trees.
The wingspan is 14–18 mm. The head is white or greyish ochreous. Forewings are white or greyish-ochreous; some blackish dorsal strigulae; a triangular blackish blotch, lighter or mixed with whitish on costa, extending along costa from near base to 2/3; some irregular blackish marks towards termen; sometimes the whole wing is unicolorous dark fuscous. Hind wings are rather dark grey. The larva is greenish, marbled with red -brown above; dorsal line deep green; head pale brown, dark-spotted; 2 with two black spots. [1]
Adults are on wing from May to June and again in August in two generations depending on the location. [2]
Prays fraxinella has two colour forms, the typical white and black colouration and the melanic form f.rustica.
Recently,[ when? ] the form f.rustica, that has an orange head has been separated into an entirely new species, Prays ruficeps .
Eggs are laid on the twigs of ash ( Fraxinus excelsior ) and manna ash ( Fraxinus ornus ) in June and July. [3]
When fully fed the larvae are 12 mm long and the body is greenish, with the head brown with black spots. As a juvenile leaf miner, the body is yellowish with a black head and anal plate, and as a bark miner the body is whitish. [3]
The mine consists of an irregular small corridor with dispersed black frass. The corridor can widen into an irregular blotch with less frass. Mines begin at the site of the egg shell, but the larvae can leave this mine and start a new one elsewhere in the leaf. In the latter case the corridor begins with a small round opening. In the autumn, before the leaf is shed, larvae leave the mines and bore into the bark, where it hibernates. After hibernation they live as a bark miner and frass can be seen between the buds. As the larvae hollows out the shoot, it causes the leaves to droop. Sometimes, they feed externally in a loose spinning. [3] [4]
The larvae pupate in an open network cocoon and can be found in May or June. [3]
Eriocrania semipurpurella is a moth of the family Eriocraniidae, found from Europe to Japan and in North America. It was first described by James Francis Stephens in 1835. The species closely resembles Eriocrania sangii and the larvae of both species mine the leaves of birch.
Elachista maculicerusella is a moth of the family Elachistidae found in Europe.
Eriocrania sangii, the large birch purple, is a moth of the family Eriocraniidae found in Europe and described by John Henry Wood in 1891. The moth can be found flying in sunshine around birch trees and the larvae feed on birch leaves.
Eriocrania sparrmannella also known as the mottled purple is a moth of the family Eriocraniidae, found in Europe and Japan. It was first described by the French entomologist, Louis Augustin Guillaume Bosc in 1791. The specific name honours the Swedish naturalist Anders Erikson Sparrman. The larvae mine the leaves of birch.
Leucoptera malifoliella, the pear leaf blister moth, ribbed apple leaf miner or apple leaf miner, is a moth of the Lyonetiidae family that can be found in all of Europe.
Ectoedemia atricollis is a moth of the family Nepticulidae found in Asia and Europe. It was described by the English entomologist Henry Tibbats Stainton in 1857.
Ectoedemia agrimoniae is a moth of the family Nepticulidae. It is found from Fennoscandia to the Pyrenees, Italy and Greece, and from Great Britain to Ukraine.
Bohemannia pulverosella is a moth of the family Nepticulidae. It is found from Fennoscandia to the Iberian Peninsula, the Alps, Slovenia and Bulgaria and from Ireland to central Russia and Ukraine.
Bucculatrix maritima is a species of moth of the family Bucculatricidae. It is found in most of Europe, Russia and Japan. It was first described in 1851 by Henry Tibbats Stainton.
Leucoptera laburnella is a moth in the family Lyonetiidae. It is found in most of Europe, except the European part of Russia and the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula. It is also found in North America.
Cosmopterix nitens is a moth of the family Cosmopterigidae. It is known from the United States, where it is found from coastal South Carolina to south-western Texas. It is also established in Michigan.
Cosmopterix pulchrimella, the beautiful cosmopterix moth, is a moth of the family Cosmopterigidae. It is known from the United States and Canada. It is also present in the Palearctic realm, where it is known from the Mediterranean Basin, from Portugal to the western Transcaucasus, north to Switzerland and Hungary. It has also been recorded from the Azores, the Canary Islands and Madeira. It has recently been found in southern England.
Elachista obliquella is a moth of the family Elachistidae found in Europe.
Caryocolum marmorea is a moth of the family Gelechiidae. It is found from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean islands, and from Ireland to Poland, Hungary and Greece. It is also found on the Canary Islands and Madeira. It is also found in North America.
Stephensia brunnichella is a moth of the family Elachistidae found in Europe and east into the Palearctic.
Antispila hikosana is a moth of the family Heliozelidae. It was described by Kuroko in 1961. It is found in Japan (Kyushu).
Antispila hydrangifoliella is a moth of the family Heliozelidae. It was described by Kuroko in 1961. It is found in Japan (Kyushu).
Scrobipalpa atriplicella, the goosefoot groundling moth, is a moth of the family Gelechiidae. It is found from most of Europe throughout Asia to Kamchatka and Japan. It is an introduced species in North America.
Cnephasia longana, the omnivorous leaftier moth, long-winged shade or strawberry fruitworm, is a moth of the family Tortricidae. It was described by Adrian Hardy Haworth in 1811. It is native to western Europe. It is an introduced species in western North America. The species has also been reported from north-western Africa and Asia. The habitat consists of downland and rough ground.
Microlechia chretieni is a moth in the family Gelechiidae. It was described by Turati in 1924. It is found on the Canary Islands, Madeira, Crete and Sardinia, as well as in North Africa, France, Portugal, Spain, Greece and Palestine. It is also present in Saudi Arabia, southern Iran, western Pakistan, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa.
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