Species Metzneria lappella - Burdock Seedhead Moth - Hodges#1685

1685

Burdock Seed Moth

Metzneria lappella (Linnaeus, 1758)

Phalaena lappella Linnaeus, 1758

LAPPELLA: perhaps refers to Arctium lappa, or Great Burdock, a larval foodplant

One of 2 named species in this genus in North America.

Wingspan 12-19 mm. (1)

Larvae about 5 mm. in midwinter

Adult: forewing tan, variably streaked with yellowish-brown; most heavily streaked along costa, with dark shallow arc sometimes running from one-third to two-thirds its length; diffuse dark spot about two-fifths distance along wing near inner margin; diagonal band of short streaks runs from apex toward inner margin; hindwing lance-like with very wide fringe; top of head and thorax pale, with thin dark line down the center; labial palps long, recurved over head; antennae long, with many narrow dark rings

Larva: head brown with whitish forehead; body white, fat, grub-like, with vestigial thoracic legs and no prolegs except for tiny anal pair clasped together

throughout United States and southern Canada. (2)

native to Eurasia

fields, roadsides, waste places; adults are attracted to light

adults fly in June and July in the north; April to August in the south

larvae in late summer, fall, and spring (overwinter)

larvae feed on developing seeds of burdock (Arctium spp.)

one generation per year; overwinters as a larva in seedhead of hostplant; pupates in spring inside seedhead

Parasitized by the braconid wasp Agathis malvacearum which lays eggs on larvae in burdock seed heads.

M. paucipunctella occurs in the west; its forewing is less streaked, and has dense speckling near the apex (compare images of both species and related genera at MPG)

Powell, J.A. & P.A. Opler 2009. Moths of Western North America. University of California Press. plate 7, fig. 31; p. 85. (3)

Moth Photographers Group (4)

pinned adult image by SangMi Lee (Moth Photographers Group)

presence in California; list (U. of California at Berkeley)

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) (5)