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Species Rhizedra lutosa - Large Wainscot - Hodges#9447.2

Large Wainscot - Rhizedra lutosa moth - Rhizedra lutosa Leucaniini - Rhizedra lutosa Rhizedra lutosa Rhizedra lutosa Rhizedra lutosa Rhizedra lutosa Rhizedra lutosa
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Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily Noctuoidea (Owlet Moths and kin)
Family Noctuidae (Owlet Moths)
Subfamily Noctuinae (Cutworm or Dart Moths)
Tribe Apameini
Genus Rhizedra
Species lutosa (Large Wainscot - Hodges#9447.2)
Hodges Number
9447.2
Numbers
the only species in this genus in North America
Size
wingspan 42-50 mm
Identification
forewing cream-colored with PM line composed of five equally-spaced dark dots mid-wing, plus a more displaced sixth dot near the inner margin; sparse gray speckling and shading along wing veins
hindwing slightly paler but with similar pattern and shading
Range
common throughout western Europe; introduced to New Jersey in 1988; has since spread north to New Brunswick, west to Ohio, and northwest to Ontario
Habitat
wet or marshy areas where the food plant (Phragmites) grows; adults are nocturnal and attracted to light
Season
adults fly from August to November
larvae from spring to July/August
Food
larvae feed inside the lower stems and rhizomes of Common Reed (Phragmites australis)
Life Cycle
overwinters as an egg on leaf of food plant; larvae hatch in spring, enter newly growing Phragmites shoots, and feed in the rhizome; attack by larvae results in shoot death, visible as dying yellow shoots in the middle of the growing season; larvae complete development by July or August, and pupate in the soil; adults fly in the fall
Remarks
It was hoped that the larvae of this species would be effective in controlling Phragmites, considered a weed in many areas of the east, but its impact has been minimal in North America.
See Also
species of Leucania and other members of the tribe Hadenini
Internet References