Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
903
DAMAGE
In addition to weakening or killing plants by attacking
the roots and crowns, larvae are also directly harmful to
the buds, foliage, flowers and stems, and sometimes
destroy entire shoots or inflorescences.
Nycteola revayana
(Scopoli) (
903
)
syn.
Sarrothripus undulanus
(Hübner)
Oak nycteoline moth
This species is associated mainly with oak (
Quercus
)
but, at least in mainland Europe, also attacks certain
kinds of poplar (
Populus
) and willow (
Salix
), including
amenity trees. Moths occur from late summer onwards.
They hibernate during the winter months and finally
deposit eggs in the spring. Larvae (up to 20 mm long)
are mainly green, marked intersegmentally with yellow,
and finely clothed in long, whitish hairs; the spiracles
are yellowish with black rims. Larval development
continues from May to July, fully fed individuals then
pupating in light green, boat-shaped cocoons formed on
the twigs or on the underside of leaves. Adults are
extremely variable in appearance, ranging from greyish
white, through brownish to blackish; they are relatively
small (13-15 mm wingspan) and superficially similar in
appearance to certain members of the family Tortricidae
(pp. 254-85).
903
Oak nycteoline moth (
Nycteola revayana
).
904
Orthosia incerta
(Hufnagel) (
904-905
)
Clouded drab moth
A generally common pest of trees and shrubs, including
ash (
Fraxinus excelsior
), beech (
Fagus sylvatica
), birch
(
Betula
), crab-apple (
Malus
), elm (
Ulmus
), flowering
cherry (
Prunus
), hawthorn (
Crataegus
), hornbeam
(
Carpinus betulus
), lime (
Tilia
),
Populus
, oak
(
Quercus
), pussy willow (
Salix caprea
) and rose (
Rosa
);
often troublesome in garden trees and on nursery stock.
Eurasiatic. Widespread throughout Europe.
904
Clouded drab moth (
Orthosia incerta
).
905
DESCRIPTION
Adult:
34-40 mm wingspan; fore wings light grey to
reddish brown or purplish brown, with darker markings
and a pale submarginal line partly edged with brown;
hind wings greyish.
Egg:
0.7 mm across; dirty creamy
white, with a purplish band and micropyle.
Larva:
up
to 40 mm long; blackish green, bluish green or light
green, dotted with white; a prominent white dorsal
stripe down the back, a pair of often indistinct
subdorsal lines and a white stripe along each side, the
latter edged above with blackish green or yellow; head
pale bluish green, brownish green or yellowish green.
Pupa:
14 mm long; shiny, dark reddish brown;
cremaster with two spines.
905
Larva of clouded drab moth (
Orthosia incerta
).
LIFE HISTORY
Adults occur from March to late May or early June, but
are most numerous in April and early May. Eggs are laid
in groups in cracks and crevices in the bark of host
plants, and hatch in 10-14 days. Tiny, very mobile,
larvae immediately invade the bursting buds and
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