Author: (Humphreys and Westwood, 1845)
Species Overview:
Adult: 19-12 mm wingspan; forewing ground colour white, variably suffused with submetallic silvery plumbeous and sparsely strigulated with dark brown or fuscous and with well-defined dark brown markings; hindwing dark fuscous.
Larva: head yellowish brown; prothoracic plate pale yellowish brown or black, medial sulcus distinct; abdomen dark greyish green, translucent, sometimes slightly tinged with red; pinacula pale brown, darker on thorax; anal plate pale yellowish brown; thoracic legs dark brown or black.
Pupa: in a cocoon spun up amongst leaf litter or in the soil.
Taxonomic Description:
Male:
Rhopobota myrtillana adult
Rhopobota myrtillana adults
External characters: 9-12 mm wingspan; termen of forewing with notch beyond apex; ground colour white, variably suffused with submetallic silvery plumbeous and sparsely strigulated with dark brown or fuscous; markings well-defined, dark brown, sparsely strigulated with black; basal and sub-basal fasciae forming a well-defined basal patch overlaid basally with plumbeous interspersed between dark strigulae, its outer margin broadly darkened with fuscous, sharply defined and very obtusely angulated above middle; median fascia oblique, moderately broad, confluent with pre-tornal marking, inner edge rather diffuse, outer edge produced or angulated at middle or slightly above; subterminal fascia arising contiguously with a weak linear tornal marking from lower part of termen, dilated in upper part of distal area and extending basally, sometimes coalescing with projection of median fascia; cilia white, suffused with grey except at apices, a fuscous sub-basal line. Hindwing dark fuscous; cilia paler, with a dark sub-basal line (Bradley et al., 1979).
male genitalia R. myrtillana
Genitalia: Uncus consisting of two narrow, wide-set projections; socii two laterally arranged appendages, covered with brush of bristles, not fused. Valva with rudimentary clasper.
Female:
External characters: Similar to male.
female genitalia R. myrtillana
Genitalia: Sterigma ring-shaped. Antrum short, sclerotized. Sides and base of corpus bursae and distal area of ductus bursae weakly sclerotized. Corpus bursae with two rather small slender signa.
Biology:
Moths fly in May and June. Larvae occur in July and August living between two leaves spun flatly one above the other, usually on the upper part of the food plant. When fully fed in August or September the larva leaves the food plant and constructs a cocoon in which it is believed to overwinter before pupating. Pupation takes place in a cocoon spun up amongst leaf litter or in the soil (Bradley et al., 1979).
Host plants:
Vaccinium spp., Ledum palustre, Berberis vulgaris, Cornus sanguinea, Quercus spp.
Damage:
Larvae can be found feeding on billberry (Vaccinium myrtillus), cowberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) and bog whortleberry (Vaccinium uliginosum), living between two leaves spun flatly one above the other, usually on the upper part of the plant. They are of no economic importance.
Distribution:
British Isles, Northern and Central Europe to Asia Minor and Siberia.
Pheromone:
Pheromone unknown.
Attractantia:
Z 11-14OH
(Booij and Voerman, 1984a)