Dichrorampha vancouverana

• Subfamily: Olethreutinae, Grapholitini
• Wingspan: 12-15 mm
• Flight period: Jun -- Jul
• Spread: Common
• Host plants: Asteraceae

Information

The Dichrorampha vancouverana also called Gold-fringed Drill is a moth of the Tortricidae family with a wingspan of 12-15 mm.
This species is present in most of Europe, with the exception of Portugal and the Balkan Peninsula. *
Its range extends to the eastern part of the Palearctic Ecozone and into the Neartic Ecozone. *
In Italy it is absent from the islands. *

The front wings of the Dichrorampha vancouverana have a gray-brown or dark brown background color.
The wing surface is intensely sprayed with yellow and ocher. The median band is represented by a large mid-dorsal spot pale yellow or ocher-orange in the shape of a comma.

The ocellus is moderately well developed, and is bordered laterally by a series of metallic striae. **
Three or four small dashes or black dots are present along the outer edge. The costa has a series of brown and metallic streaks, more evident after half of the same. **
The hind wings are brown with white undertones. **

Preferred habitats are dry grassy places although it is not unlikely to find it in humid areas. adults fly in June and July, during the afternoon and towards sunset. ***

The caterpillar is visible from May to June often in spun tunnels in the Achillea millefolium rootstock, it rises from the ground into the stem and eats in the roots, but creating a hole near the ground for the expulsion of waste and excrement. ****

The egg is elliptical in shape initially white, rough, subsequently reddish spots appear. **

The larvae feed on the yarrow rootstock Achillea millefolium (yarrow), Leucanthemum vulgare and Tanacetum vulgare (tansy).


* Lepidoptera mundi https://lepidoptera.eu/ - Fauna Europea https://fauna-eu.org/
** Bestimmungshilfe für die in Europa nachgewiesenen Schmetterlingsarten - http://lepiforum.de/
*** online guide to the moths of Great Britain and Ireland - https://ukmoths.org.uk/
**** Schütze (1931) Dichrorampha alpinana - According to Sobczyk et al. (2019: 443) there is no evidence of D. alpinana from Saxony - despite various old reports; an animal ascertained in the collection Schützes belonged to D. vancouverana, a species still unknown at the time. It is very likely that all information on Schütz caterpillars on D. alpinana belongs to the species discussed here. **