Endothenia ericetana

• Subfamily: Olethreutinae, Endotheniini
• Wingspan: 14-20 mm
• Flight period: Jun - Aug
• Spread: Common
• Host plants: Lamiaceae

Information

The Endothenia ericetana is a moth of the Tortricidae family, subfamily Olethreutinae, with a wingspan of 14-20 mm.
In Europe we find it in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, British Isles, Germany, Denmark, Ireland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, the Channel Islands, Poland, Russia, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Finland, France, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Sweden, Estonia. *
Its range extends to the Palearctic ecozone. ***
In Italy it is absent from the islands with reliefs especially in the north. *, ***

The front wings of Endothenia ericetana are light brown in color, with not very evident darker markings. A dark spot is clearly visible in the discal region, which starts from the costa almost to the inner edge.
The costa is of the basic color, with darker streaks up to the apex. Two dark spots are visible in the postdiscal region, the first part from the radial area, ending on the outer edge, the second on the border between the anal and cubital areas. The edge is fringed. **, ****

The hind wings are gray-brown, also fringed. ****
The head, the palps and the thorax are brown in color as well as the abdomen which has lighter areas. **

Difficult species to meet during the day, it is often attracted by artificial light. It frequents meadows, fields and edges of agricultural land. Fly from June to August in a single generation.

The larvae feed in the roots, the lower part of the stem, and the rootstock of Stachys palustris plants , and possibly on Stachys sylvatica or Mentha arvensis (mint). *****


* Lepidoptera mundi https://lepidoptera.eu/ - Fauna Europea https://fauna-eu.org/
** Bestimmungshilfe für die in Europa nachgewiesenen Schmetterlingsarten - http://lepiforum.de/
*** https://www.gbif.org/species/1741725
**** Meyrick, E., 1895 A Handbook of British Lepidoptera MacMillan, - https://archive.org/details/handbookofbritis00meyr/page/n7/mode/2up
***** Online guide to the moths of Great Britain and Ireland - http://www.ukmoths.org.uk