Agriphila tristella

• Subfamily: Crambinae
• Wingspan: 18-21 mm
• Flight period: Jun - Aug
• Spread:Uncommon
• Host plants: Poaceae

Information

The Angustalius malacellus is a moth of the Crambidae family, subfamily Crambinae, with a wingspan of 22-30 mm.
The species is found in Spain, Portugal, France, Greece and Crete, southeastern Turkey. In Italy it is also present in the islands. *
It has also been recorded in the islands of Comoros, Rwanda, South Africa, Ethiopia, Madagascar **, the islands of Réunion and Mauritius as well as in and Fiji.***

The Angustalius malacellus is characterized by a livery with longitudinal white and dark brown stripes, with a series of drawings, triangular in shape of ocher and browns, surrounded by white, near the apex. A dark gray rectangle with small black marks is visible nearby of the margin. The hind wings are white, translucent. All the wings are fringed.

Usually it frequents dry meadows, the adults, in the north east of Italy are visible from June to August. The larvae live at the base of the host plants, sometimes buried, eroding the stems of the host plants.

The larvae feed on various wild grasses, but have been reported on Zea mays (maize) and Saccharum officinarum (sugar cane) plants, sometimes causing severe damage.


* Lepidoptera mundi https://lepidoptera.eu/ - Fauna Europea https://fauna-eu.org/
** Afromoths, online database of Afrotropical moth species (Lepidoptera) - http://www.afromoths.net/
*** Checklis of Fijian Lepidoptera, compiled by Neal L. Evenhuis - http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org//fiji/checklists/lepidoptera.html