Hedya pruniana

• Subfamily: Olethreutinae, Olethreutini
• Wingspan: 15-19 mm
• Flight period: May - Jul
• Spread: Common
• Host plants: Rosaceae, Betulaceae

Information

The Hedya pruniana also called Plum Tortrix is a moth of the Tortricidae family with a wingspan of 16-22 mm. It is distributed throughout Europe, with the exception of Portugal, Croatia and Ukraine.
Its range extends into the Palearctic ecozone. *
In Italy it is also present in the islands. *

The Hedya pruniana has 2/3 of the anterior wing (starting from the basal region) which varies from brown to black brown with blue-gray band.
The last third is light in color (white / cream). It has a round black dot in the center of the border between the light zone and the dark one and a couple of small black spots just outside the dark zone. **

It resembles Hedya nubiferana but is slightly smaller and the two dark post-midpoints are located away from the midband separation. ***
The hind wings are gray in color. The wings are fringed.
Unlike similar species, the dark shades in the apical area are more intense.

Adults are visible from mid-April to August. It overwinters in the larval stage. The larvae can be found from July / August until April / May of the following year.

The larva of the Hedya pruniana is light green in color with a brown / blackish head and prothoracic shield with tubercles of the same color on each segment from which a few light hairs emerge. **
The chrysalis is brown / blackish in color, often darker in the area of ​​the head and wings. **

The larvae feed on various plants, including Prunus spinosa (blackthorn), Prunus domestica (plum), Crataegus, Rosa, Sorbus (rowan) and Corylus avellana (hazel).


* Lepidoptera mundi https://lepidoptera.eu/ - Fauna Europea https://fauna-eu.org/
** Bestimmungshilfe für die in Europa nachgewiesenen Schmetterlingsarten - http://lepiforum.de/
*** https://www.norfolkmoths.co.uk/