Cnephasia (Cnephasia) stephensiana

• Subfamily: Tortricinae, Cnephasiini
• Wingspan: 18-23 mm
• Flight period: Jul - Aug
• Spread: Common
• Host plants: Polyphagous

Information

The Cnephasia stephensiana also called Grey Tortrix is a moth of the Tortricidae family, subfamily Tortricinae, with wingspan of about 18-23 mm.
In Europe it is well distributed, it is absent from Croatia. *
In Italy it is also present in the islands. **

The front wings of the Cnephasia stephensiana are brownish gray, with three series of irregular bands of color brown / tawny crossing the front wing obliquely. The costa is presented in the color of the wing.
The rear wing is translucent gray / whitish. All wings are fringed **

Univoltine species, adults are visible in July and August, the same period in which the eggs are laid. They hatch after about three weeks. The young caterpillars form a cocoon in which they overwinter.
They begin to feed in spring, initially undermining leaves later by living in folded leaves. ***

The egg is cream colored, it is deposited individually or in small batches on the food plant. ***
The larva is 15-18 mm long with a variable head in color, it can be light brown marked dark brown, or entirely brownish black or black. The prothoracic plate is black, anteriorly bordered with gray, a narrow whitish medial sulcus.
The abdomen bright gray or bluish gray, variable and sometimes darker or lighter, or with a slight greenish tinge; black thoracic legs. ***

The pupa is blackish brown in color, prominent, curved spines of the cremaster. ***

The species is decidedly polyphagous, it has been recorded on over 120 different plant species.


* Lepidoptera mundi https://lepidoptera.eu/ - Fauna Europea https://fauna-eu.org/
** Bestimmungshilfe für die in Europa nachgewiesenen Schmetterlingsarten - http://lepiforum.de/
*** Eurasian Tortricidae 2.0 - https://eurasian-tortricidae.linnaeus.naturalis.nl/