Piniphila bifasciana

Author: (Haworth, 1811)

Species Overview:

Adult: 12-16 mm wingspan; forewing ground colour silvery white, with a pinkish hue, diffusely striated with pale greyish ochreous; costa strigulated with blackish; markings pale greyish ochreous mixed with pale silvery grey and irrorate with black; basal patch and median fascia well-defined; subterminal patch large, rather diffuse, pale ochreous fasciate; margin of termen sprinkled or edged with black. Hindwing brownish grey.
Larva: ca. 12 mm long; head dark brown or black; prothoracic plate brown to blackish brown, medial sulcus whitish; abdomen whitish yellow to light grey, sometimes tinged with red; pinacula and peritreme of spiracles darker than integument; anal plate pale brown; thoracic legs brownish black.
Pupa: 6-7 mm long; brownish orange, paler ventrally; cremaster sharply pointed, with short, stout, hooked orange bristles. Spun up in a flimsy, white cocoon of silk mixed with flower debris.

Taxonomic Description:

Male:

Piniphila bifasciana adult
Piniphila bifasciana adults
External characters: 12-16 mm wingspan. Forewing ground colour silvery white, diffusely striated with pale greyish ochreous flushed with salmon pink (the pinkish hue is more pronounced in fresh specimens); costa densely strigulated with blackish; markings pale greyish ochreous mixed with pale silvery grey and irrorate with black; basal and subbasal fasciae confluent, forming a dense basal patch, its outer edge relatively straight but sometimes slightly produced medially; median fascia well-defined, confluent with pretornal marking and forming an evenly broad fascia, indented below middle on outer edge; a large, rather diffuse, pale ochreous fasciate subterminal patch; margin of termen sprinkled or edged with black; cilia grey, with a distinct blackish sub-basal line. Hindwing brownish grey; cilia paler, with a dark sub-basal line (Bradley et al., 1979).

male genitalia P. bifasciana
Genitalia: Valva elongated, narrow in apical half, with four to five spinescent setae in tuft near base of cucullus. Remaining cover consists of piliform bristles. Vesica of aedeagus with cluster of long cornuti and one short, flat seta. Uncus small. Socii with short piliform bristles.

Female:

External characters: Usually slightly larger than males; forewing colouration and markings as in male.

female genitalia P. bifasciana
Genitalia: Sterigma a collar-like structure, with membranous lateral parts. Antrum long, broad up to inception of ductus seminalis. Signum small, scobinate, concave.

Variation:

The intensity of the blackish irroration on the basal patch and median fascia varies; in specimens in which it is heavy the fasciae appear much stronger, contrasting more with the ground colour, and the ochreous suffusion is usually deeper (Bradley et al., 1979).

Biology:

Moths fly in June and July. Larvae hibernate. In May and June, they feed in the young shoots and amongst the male blossom of Pinus spp. They spin the blossom into a loose mass and live in a gallery lined with white silk and constructed near the base of the central stem. Pupation occurs in June, in the larval habitation, spun up in a flimsy, white cocoon of silk mixed with flower debris (Bradley et al., 1979; Bankes, 1909).

Host plants:

Europe: Pinus sylvestris, Pinus pinaster, Pinus microstrobilus, Pinus pinea.
Japan: Abies sachalinensis, Pinus densiflora.

Damage:

Larvae feed in the young shoots and male blossom of Pinus spp. It is not an economically important species.

Distribution:

Europe, Russia (Siberia, Amur), China, Korea, Japan.

Pheromone:

Pheromone unknown.

Attractantia:

E 10-14Ac : 3
Z 10-14Ac : 1
(Booij et al., 1986)

Parasitoids:

Colpoclypeus florus (Walker) (Eulophidae)

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