''Mompha conturbatella'', also known as the fireweed mompha moth, 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 w ...

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 region ...

distribution. In the

Palearctic 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-Sibe ...

, it is found from Europe through the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

and central Asia to the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admini ...

. The species is also common in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. 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 other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

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.

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, common hogweed or cow parsnip, is a herbaceous perennial or biennial plant, in the umbelliferous family Apiaceae that includes fennel, cow parsley, ground elder and giant hogweed. It is nat ...

'') 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, in some parts of Canada as great willowherb, in Britain and Ireland as rosebay willowherb. In ...

''). The larvae feed on fireweed, dwarf fireweed (''

Epilobium latifolium ''Chamaenerion latifolium'' (formerly ''Epilobium latifolium'', also called ''Chamerion latifolium'') is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the English common names dwarf fireweed and river beauty willowherb. It ...

'') (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