''Mompha conturbatella'', also known as the fireweed mompha moth, is a

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

in the family

Momphidae The Momphidae, or mompha moths, is a family of moths with some 115 described species. It was described by Gottlieb August Wilhelm Herrich-Schäffer in 1857. These moths tend to be rather small with a wingspan of up to 21 mm. The wings are he ...

found in Asia, Europe and North America. It was first described by

Jacob Hübner Jacob Hübner (20 June 1761 – 13 September 1826, in Augsburg) was a German entomologist. He was the author of ''Sammlung Europäischer Schmetterlinge'' (1796–1805), a founding work of entomology. Scientific career Hübner was the author of '' ...

in 1819.

Distribution and habitat

This species has a

Holarctic The Holarctic realm is a biogeographic realm that comprises the majority of habitats found throughout the continents in the Northern Hemisphere. It corresponds to the floristic Boreal Kingdom. It includes both the Nearctic zoogeographical reg ...

distribution. In the

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

, it is found from Europe through the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

and central Asia to the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East ( rus, Дальний Восток России, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in North Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asia, Asian continent, and is coextensive with the Far Easte ...

. The species is also common in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. These moths mainly occur in mountains, woodland, hedge rows and marshy areas.

Description

''Mompha conturbatella'' has a

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

of 11–17 mm. Forewings of these moths show stains of various color, ranging from brown to black, bluish, russet and white. On the dorsum are present several raised tufts of scales. The head is dark fuscous, face whitish. Forewings dark fuscous, with several small scattered dull orange-ferruginous spots; an obscure whitish spot on base of dorsum; an oblique fascia before middle, a sometimes incomplete fascia in middle, a spot in disc posteriorly, another beyond tornus, and apical dot bluish-leaden-metallic ; three black scale-tufts towards dorsum, and three less marked above them; a small white tornal spot, and large white costal spot beyond it. Hindwings rather dark fuscous. Larva blackish: in spun shoots of ''Epilobium anqustifolium''. Similar are '' Mompha lacteella'' and '' Mompha propinquella'' differing in colouration and with genitalic differences. Koster, J.C. & Sinev, S.Yu., 2003. Momphidae, Batrachedridae, Stathmopodidae, Agonoxe nidae, Cosmopterigidae, Chrysopeleiidae. - In P. Huemer, 0. Karsholt and L. Lyneborg (eds): Microlepidoptera of Europe 5: 1-387. ISBN 87-88757-66-8 ISSN 1395-9506

Biology

''Mompha conturbatella'' is a

univoltine Voltinism is a term used in biology to indicate the number of broods or generations of an organism in a year. The term is most often applied to insects, and is particularly in use in sericulture, where silkworm varieties vary in their voltinism. ...

species. Adults are on wing from June to July. They feed on nectar of hogweed (''

Heracleum sphondylium ''Heracleum sphondylium'', commonly known as hogweed or common hogweed, is a herbaceous perennial plant in the carrot family Apiaceae, which includes fennel, cow parsley, ground elder and Heracleum mantegazzianum, giant hogweed. It is native to m ...

'') and rosebay willowherb or fireweed (''

Epilobium angustifolium ''Chamaenerion angustifolium'' is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the willowherb family, Onagraceae. It is known in North America as fireweed and in Britain and Ireland as rosebay willowherb. It is also known by the synonyms ''Chameri ...

''). The larvae feed on fireweed, dwarf fireweed ('' Epilobium latifolium'') (and possibly broad-leaved willowherb (''

Epilobium montanum ''Epilobium montanum'' or Broad-leaved Willowherb is a species of flowering plant in the willowherb family Onagraceae. Description This species grows to 60 cm high. The leaves are hairless and serrate and ovate-lanceolate. They are mostly p ...

'') ). Larvae can be found from May to June. At the end of spring, the larvae live between spun together leaves at the tip of the plant and later into the stem. Pupation takes place in a yellowish brown cocoon in litter on the ground.

References

External links

Lepiforum e. V.

North America Moth Photographer Group
{{Taxonbar, from=Q310338 Momphidae Moths of Asia Moths of Europe Moths of North America Taxa named by Jacob Hübner