Phalonidia manniana

• Subfamily: Tortricinae, Cochylini
• Wingspan: 10-13 mm
• Flight period: Jun - Aug
• Spread: Common
• Host plants: Lamiaceae

Information

The Phalonidia manniana also called Water-mint Conch is a moth of the Tortricidae family, subfamily Tortricinae, with wingspan of about 10-13 mm.
In Europe it is well distributed, it is absent from Portugal and Croatia. *
In Italy it is also present in the islands. **

The front wings of Phalonidia manniana have a light gray / cream color with brown and hazelnut variegations.
From the internal margin in the discal region there is a hazelnut colored band, surrounded by brown / black that with a curvilinear trend it moves fading in light brown towards the coast. **

Another light brown band starts from the inner corner to end in the sub-apical area. The costa is present in the background color, with the exception of the basal region and the intersections with the bands and variegations, in which it appears brown and hazelnut. **
The hind wings are light gray, strongly fringed. **, ***

Adults are in flight from June to August depending on the location. Univoltine moth flies from early evening to late at night and is one frequenter of artificial lights. It prefers humid habitats such as embankments, ditches, stream margins, swamps, floodplains, and other freshwater margins.

The larva of the Phalonidia manniana in the juvenile stages, is yellow / greenish with a head and prothoracic shield of glossy black color, subsequently the color of the larvae becomes yellowish white or pinkish white, always with black head and prothoracic shield. **

The larvae feed between September and April on Lamiaceae in particular on Mentha piperita, Mentha aquatica, Mentha longifolia, Mentha spicata but there are reports on species of other families such as Alisma plantago-aquatica, Butomus, Lycopus and Inula.


* Lepidoptera mundi https://lepidoptera.eu/ - Fauna Europea https://fauna-eu.org/
** Bestimmungshilfe für die in Europa nachgewiesenen Schmetterlingsarten - http://lepiforum.de/
*** Meyrick, E., 1895 A Handbook of British Lepidoptera MacMillan