Bedellia somnulentella

(Zeller, 1847)

  • Subfamily:
  • Wingspan: 08-11 mm
  • Flight period: Jul - Sep
  • Spread: Common
  • Host plants: Convolvulaceae

Information

The Bedellia somnulentella is a small moth of the Bedelliidae family with a wingspan of 08-11 mm.
The Bedellia somnulentella It has an almost cosmopolitan distribution, in Europe it is present practically everywhere, in Italy it is also present in the islands. *

The front wings are parchment-colored, while the hind wings are white and finer, they are strongly fringed, almost “feathered”. It has long antennae, as long as its wings. Like other representatives of this family, it has the characteristic "tuft" on the head, it is orange, streaked in the color of the front wings.

The larvae of this species undermine the leaves of their host plant. The "mine" begins as a narrow winding corridor with a central line of excrement, which often cuts off part of the leaf. Later, the larvae leave the corridor and begin to feed voraciously, reducing the leaves to translucent spots and wilting them prematurely. The nymphosis occurs outside the leaf where the pupa remains attached to the leaf, without a cocoon.

The development and reproduction of Bedellia somnulentella takes place on Convolvulaceae such as Calystegia sp., Convolvulus sp. and Ipomoea batatas (sweet potato). **


* Lepidoptera mundi https://lepidoptera.eu/ - Fauna Europea https://fauna-eu.org/
** Annali della Entomological Society of America, 70: 925-928

Bedellia somnulentella
Bedellia somnulentella
Bedellia somnulentella
Bedellia somnulentella
Bedellia somnulentella
Bedellia somnulentella
Bedellia somnulentella
Bedellia somnulentella
Bedellia somnulentella
Bedellia somnulentella