''Cnephasia stephensiana'', the grey tortrix, is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of ...

of the family

Tortricidae The Tortricidae are a family of moths, commonly known as tortrix moths or leafroller moths, in the order Lepidoptera. This large family has over 11,000 species described, and is the sole member of the superfamily Tortricoidea, although the gen ...

. It is found in the

Palearctic realm The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Si ...

, and has also been recorded from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a 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 polyphagous and have been recorded from over 120 plant species. It is sometimes considered a plague on various agricultural crops.

References

External links

Lepidoptera of BelgiumUKmothsCnephasia stephensiana on microlepidoptera.nlArthropods of Economic Importance – Eurasian Tortricidae – ''Cnephasia stephensiana'' (Grey tortrix)
stephensiana Moths of Japan Moths of Europe Moths described in 1849 {{Tortricinae-stub