Author: (Haworth, 1811)
Species Overview:
Adult: 18-22 mm wingspan; forewing ground colour whitish ochreous to light brownish; markings brown ochreous; median fascia weakly developed on costa, stronger medially and terminating on submedian fold as a blackish, triangular blotch, the inner edge of which is thinly lined with white. Hindwing grey, darker towards apex and along termen.
Egg: deposited in small batches on various parts of the plant: on the under- and uppersides of leaves and on the stem.
Larva: head and prothoracic and anal plates light yellowish brown; abdomen yellowish white, sometimes with a faint dark dorsal line; pinacula concolorous with integument.
Pupa: light brown; spun up in the soil or amongst surface litter.
Taxonomic Description:
Male:
Endothenia quadrimaculana male
Endothenia quadrimaculana adult
External characters: 18-22 mm wingspan; forewing ground colour whitish ochreous to light brownish ochreous, sparsely sprinkled with whitish and brown or dark fuscous, ante- and postmedian areas sometimes suffused with grey medially; markings poorly defined, brown with a variable admixture of black; basal and sub-basal fasciae forming a diffuse basal patch, its outer edge acutely angled at middle; median fascia weakly developed on costa, stronger medially and terminating on submedian fold as a dark, triangular blotch, the inner edge of which is thinly lined with white; pre-tornal marking very narrow, obsolescent on dorsum, terminating before middle; subterminal fascia slender on termen, broadening or dilated before middle of discal area, then curving towards apex; sections of radial veins within the markings partially lined with black; cilia pale ochreous, with a dark grey sub-basal line and a faint medial line along termen. Hindwing grey, darker towards apex and along termen; cilia whitish ochreous, with a well-defined, dark grey sub-basal line (Bradley et al., 1979).
male gen. E. quadrimaculana
Genitalia: Uncus very broad apically, provided with four long spinescent setae (two on each side) and 6 to 7 soft, sharp, short setae at apex. Socii large, fused with tegumen. Valva slender, cucullus long and slender, a sclerotic lobe armed with spines beyond basal cavity. Aedeagus short, linked to lateral parts of tegumen by slender bands; cornuti short.
Female:
External characters: Similar to male.
female gen. E. quadrimaculana
Genitalia: Postvaginal plate of sterigma sclerotized; antevaginal plate sclerotized posteriorly and anteriorly, with a transverse sclerotized projection medially. Antrum with elongated sclerites. Ductus bursae long; ductus seminalis situated postmedially. Corpus bursae with single, basket-shaped signum.
Variation:
In lightly coloured specimens the ground colour may be pale greyish ochreous, often strongly irrorate with white, with the dark markings reduced but relatively conspicuous. Rarely the ground colour is heavily suffused with blackish brown, which obscures the markings; the colouration of the hindwing varies correspondingly (Bradley et al., 1979).
Biology
In France and Switzerland, there are two generations yearly, moths of the first generation fly in May and June, those of the second in August and September. Eggs are deposited in small batches on various parts of the plant: on the under- and uppersides of leaves and on the stem. After hatching, the young larva lives in mines in the stem. After a while, it bores an exit-hole and descends along the stem towards the rhyzomes. Here it starts tunneling, lining the galleries with silk. Pupation occurs spun up in the soil or amongst surface litter. Larvae hibernate.
Only the second generation of larvae cause economically important damage to cultivated Stachys, those of the early generation tunnel in the roots and the runners (Bovey, 1966; Bradley et al., 1979).
Host plants:
Mentha spicata, Mentha arvensis, Lamium album, Stachys palustris, Stachys arvensis, Stachys recta and Symphytum officinale. In France also on Stachys affinis, imported from Japan.
Damage:
Rhyzomes of Stachys that are attacked and damaged will spoil easily and have to be eliminated before being sold.
Distribution:
Northern and Central Europe to Siberia and South-Eastern Russia, Mongolia and China. In North America, this species is represented by the subspecies Endothenia quadrimaculana nubilana.
Pheromone:
Pheromone unknown.
Attractantia:
E 10-14Ac : 3
Z 10-14Ac : 1
(Booij and Voerman, 1984a)
or
E 10-14Ac : 9
Z 10-14Ac : 1
(Capizzi, 1985)