Light grey tortrix

Description

Cnephasia incertana, the light grey tortrix, is a moth of the family Tortricidae. It is found all over Europe. The wingspan is 14–18 mm.The forewings are light grey with three more or less definite irregular cross-bands. The hindwings are grey-brown.Julius von Kennel provides a full description. Adults are on wing from June to July. The larvae feed on a wide range of herbaceous plants such as Plantago and Rumex. Cnephasia is a genus of tortrix moths (family Tortricidae). It belongs to the subfamily Tortricinae and therein to the tribe Cnephasiini, of which it is the type genus. The type species around which Cnephasia was established by J. Curtis in 1826 (in the explanations to plate 100 of his British Entomology) was claimed to be "Tortrix logiana". However, this was a misidentification; the name of T. logiana (described by C.A. Clerck in 1759 and nowadays called Acleris logiana) was until the early 20th century frequently applied to related species in error. Curtis simply repeated the mistake of A.H. Haworth, who had in his 1811 volume of Lepidoptera Britannica discussed a Cnephasia under Clerck's name, but the original misidentification may well go back to Linnaeus' treatment of "T. logiana" in Systema naturae. Eventually, this was resolved, and the type species of Cnephasia was determined to be the tortrix moth described as Olethreutes pasiuana by J. Hübner in 1822.