Arthropods • Earth.com

Grey tortrix

(Cnephasia stephensiana)

galery

Description

Cnephasia stephensiana, the grey tortrix, is a moth of the family Tortricidae. It is found in the Palearctic realm, and has also been recorded from Canada. The wingspan is 18–23 mm. The species is quite variable in colour and some individuals can be contrastingly patterned. The forewings are rounded and light greyish or grey-brown, with more or less clear, irregular, darker cross-bands. The hindwings are light grey-brown. Adults are on wing from May to August. Eggs are laid in July and August and hatch after about three weeks. The young caterpillars make a cocoon in which they overwinter. They start feeding in spring. In the beginning they mine. Later they live in folded leaves. The caterpillars pupate from April to July. The larvae are polyphagus and have been recorded from over 120 plant species. It is sometimes considered a plague on various agricultural crops. 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.

Taxonomic tree:

Domain:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum:
Class: Insecta
Order:Lepidoptera
Family:Tortricidae
Genus:Cnephasia
News coming your way
The biggest news about our planet delivered to you each day