Schoenobius gigantella

• Subfamily: Schoenobiinae
• Wingspan: 25-46 mm
• Flight period: Giu - Ago
• Spread: Common
• Host plants: Poaceae

Information

The Schoenobius gigantella is a moth of the Crambidae family, subfamily Schoenobiinae, with a wingspan of 25-46 mm.
In Europe it is very widespread but is absent from Ireland, Slovenia, Croatia and Greece. In Italy it is absent from the islands. *

In the males the coloring of the fore wings is variable and goes from light ocher to shaded blackish, with the more or less intense presence of round black spots; Females are normally ocher / hazel in color but may occasionally show scattered dark spots and brown blotches forming a band that forms part of the appendix, parallel to the costa until the basal region.
The rear wings are white, silky with brown undertones along the edge. A series of faded elongated brown spots are visible in the postdiscal region in males, silky white with very light brown shades along the border in females. All the wings are fringed, the front wings in the background color, the rear ones in white. Long palps are visible (exceeding the length of the combined head and thorax), which like the head, thorax and abdomen are very similar in color. to the background color of the front wings.

The dimorphism is given, as already mentioned, by the color and by the size, which is considerably greater in the females (males 25-30 mm, females 41-46 mm). *

The Schoenobius gigantella frequents wetlands, marshes and swamps, usually near costal areas where host plants are present. They can be attracted to the artificial light even if the males are rather sedentary. The larvae feed internally on the stems of the host plants. **

The larvae feed on Poaceae in particular of Glyceria sp. and Phragmites sp.


* Lepidoptera mundi https://lepidoptera.eu/ - Fauna Europea https://fauna-eu.org/
** Online guide to the moths of Great Britain and Ireland - https://ukmoths.org.uk/