| (one synonym: Platyptilia brunneodactyla D. Lucas, 1955) PTEROPHORINAE, PTEROPHORIDAE, PTEROPHORIOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
listed as Pterophorus isodactylus
illustration by Buckler, Wendel, and Trap,
The larvæ of the British butterflies and moths,
Ray Society, London (1910), Volume 9, Plate CLXIII, fig. 4,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library,
digitized by Ernst Mayr Library, Harvard University.
These Caterpillars vary in colour from green to off-white, with a pale or dark dorsal line. The caterpillars have a pair of black tubercles above a black spiracle on each side of each abdominal segment, and each tubercle carries one short black hair. The head and collar are black, as are the true legs and the anal plate.
The caterpillars feed on plants in the family ASTERACEAE, including
The caterpillars bore into the stems, and live and pupate in their borehole. The caterpillars grow to a length of about 1 cm. The pupa is off-white with a length of about 1 cm. It is formed near the entrance to the borehole, making it easy for the newly emerged moth to fly off.
The adult moth is brown with a dark mark on each forewing, and has a wingspan of about 2.5 cms.
The species has been found is a native to Eurasia, including
and in 1999, to control Ragwort, the species was introduced into
Further reading :
William Buckler,
The larvæ of the British butterflies and moths,
Ray Society, London (1910), Vol.9 (1901), pp. 343-347, and
Plate 163, fig. 4.
Philipp C. Zeller,
Revision der Pterophoriden,
Linnaea Entomologica,
Volume 6 (1852), pp. 328-330, No. 4.
 caterpillar |  butterflies |  Lepidoptera |  moths |  caterpillar |
(written 23 March 2019, updated 26 July 2026)