Nomophila noctuella

• Subfamily: Spilomelinae
• Wingspan: 26-32 mm
• Flight period: May - Sep
• Spread: Common
• Host plants: Ericaceae, Fabaceae, Poaceae ...

Information

The Nomophila noctuella also called Rush Veneer is a moth of the Crambidae family, subfamily Spilomelinae, with a wingspan of 26-32 mm.
In Europe it is met pretically everywhere, even in Iceland, but it is absent from Ukraine. In Italy it is also present in the islands. *
Moth of almost cosmopolitan distribution, in Europe, has a migrant character and travels from southern Europe and North Africa to Northern Europe.

The front wings are very elongated and narrow. The base color of the front wings is generally brown, with darker eight-shaped and reniform markings, sometimes pupillated, in the discal and postdiscal regions. Some dark brown spots are present near the outer edge and apex. In any case, the brown wings have a considerable variability in the intensity of the color itself and, at times, the darker circular spots present in the discal and postdiscal regions, are not visible.

It mainly frequents coastal areas although it is not difficult to meet it inland. It prefers grassland habitats where the nourishing plants of the larvae are present.
When at rest, this moth has an elongated and narrow distinctive character, which makes it easily recognizable.

The mature larvae of the species are gray-green in color with dark spots on each segment; Head and prothoracic shield are dark brown. **
Larvae between 13 and 22 mm in length detach the seedlings from the ground and carry the cut buds into a tunnel in the ground . An important symptom of damage is a silk thread leading from the tunnel to the base of the cut seedling (Philip et al., 1990). ***
There are two to four generations per year (Furniss and Carolin, 1977).

The host plants include various families, the Ericaceae such as Vaccinium myrtillus (bilberry), the Fabaceae, with Medicago sativa and Trifolium, the Poaceae such as Poa sp. is Polygonaceae with Polygonum aviculare.


* Lepidoptera mundi https://lepidoptera.eu/ - Fauna Europea https://fauna-eu.org/
** Bestimmungshilfe für die in Europa nachgewiesenen Schmetterlingsarten - http://lepiforum.de/
*** A new pest: rush veneer, Nomophila noctuella Denis & Schiffermuller, 1775 (lepidoptera: crambidae) on alfalfa (medicago sativa l.) in igdir province, turkey - Celalettin Gözüaçık, Igdir Üniversitesi - https://www.researchgate.net/