Eulia ministrana

Author: (Linnaeus, 1758)

Species Overview:

Adult: 18-22 mm wingspan; forewing whitish yellow overlaid with dark ferruginous-brown in basal, median and terminal areas; a usually conspicuous white discocellular spot; cilia ferruginous-brown or dark brown. Hindwing brownish grey; cilia paler.
Egg: deposited in small, yellowish-brown batches on the food plant.
Larva: head chestnut-brown, region of stemmata black; prothoracic plate similar, varying to yellowish green; abdomen green, integument finely shagreened; pinacula and anal plate yellowish green; anal comb with 8-10 large prongs.
Pupa: dull brown, abdomen paler, without spines or thorns on A10, with long, smooth cremaster with eight hooked setae. In the larval habitation, the openings of which have been closed.

Taxonomic Description:

Male:

Eulia ministrana males
Eulia ministrana adults
External characters: 18-22 mm wingspan. Antenna dentate-serrate, shortly ciliate. Forewing fairly broad; costa gradually curved; termen oblique. Forewing ground colour whitish yellow overlaid with dark ferruginous-brown in basal, median and terminal areas; a usually conspicuous white discocellular spot; cilia ferruginous-brown or dark brown. Hindwing brownish grey; cilia paler (Bradley et al., 1973).

male genitalia Eulia ministrana
Genitalia: Tegumen long, with large ventral portions; uncus long and slender; terminal plate of gnathos broad, long; socii broad. Vinculum not divided ventrally. Valva broad, with distinct costa; a split between dorsum of sacculus and disc that extends medially towards transtilla. Transtilla armed with long lateral projections. Aedeagus long, pointed, highly curved, without cornuti in vesica.

Female:

Eulia ministrana female
External characters: Antenna weakly dentate, finely pilose; forewing colour and markings as in male.

female genitalia E. ministrana
Genitalia: Eighth tergite broad, ventrally fused with sterigma; the latter a large, concave, scobinate plate with distinct antevaginal portion; antrum short; ductus bursae slender; corpus bursae covered with numerous spines, except for posterior third.

Variation:

In both sexes, considerable variation is found in the extent and intensity of the ferruginous-brown suffusion. Dark forms occur, and in extreme heavily suffused forms the white discal spot may be obliterated and the whole wing is almost uniform dark-reddish brown. The suffusion may also be reduced, the ground colour being distinctly whitish (Bradley et al., 1973).

Biology:

There is a single generation yearly. Moths fly in May and June. Eggs are deposited in small batches on the food plant during May and June, and hatch in about 18 days. Larvae first feed at the tip of leaf, later between two spun leaves in a tubular spinning open at both ends. They reach maturity at the beginning of October and then overwinter. Pupation takes place in the larval habitation, the openings of which have been closed, in April and May of the following year (Bradley et al., 1973).

Host plants:

Corylus, Fraxinus, Rhamnus, Sorbus, Betula, Prunus, Alnus, Vaccinium myrtillus, Epilobium, Rubus chamaemorus, Rubus idaeus (raspberry), Rosa, Fagus, Quercus, Tilia.

Damage:

Larvae first feed at the tip of leaf, later between two spun leaves in a tubular spinning open at both ends. The species is not economically important.

Distribution:

Europe to Siberia, Korea and Japan; North America.

Pheromone:

Pheromone unknown.

Attractantia:

Z 11-14Ac : 9
Z 9-14Ac : 1
(Booij and Voerman, 1984a)

or

Z 11-14Ac : 10
Z 9-14Ac : 1
(Priesner, 1984)

or

Z 11-14Al : 1
Z 11-14Ac : 1
(Booij and Voerman, 1985)

%LABEL% (%SOURCE%)