Plume moth

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Pterophoridae
White Plume Moth, Pterophorus pentadactyla
White Plume Moth, Pterophorus pentadactyla
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Suborder: Ditrysia
Superfamily: Pterophoroidea
Family: Pterophoridae
Zeller, 1841
Diversity
90+ genera
1,000+ species
Type species
Pterophorus pentadactyla
Subfamilies

Agdistinae
Deuterocopinae
Macropiratinae
Ochyroticinae
Pterophorinae

The Pterophoridae or plume-moths are a family of Lepidoptera with unusually modified wings. The fore-wings consist of (usually) two curved spars with more or less bedraggled bristles trailing behind (compare the greater number of symmetrical plumes of the Alucitidae). The hind wings are similarly constructed on three spars. A few genera have normal lepidopteran wings.

The usual resting posture is with the wings extended laterally and narrowly rolled up. Often they resemble a piece of dried grass, and may pass unnoticed by potential predators even when resting in exposed situations in daylight. Some species have larvae which are stem- or root-borers while others are leaf-browsers.

Cnaemidophorus rhododactylus
Cnaemidophorus rhododactylus

Economically important pterophorids include the artichoke plume moth (Platyptilia carduidactyla), a pest in California, while the Geranium plume moth Platyptilia pica and the Snapdragon plume moth Stenoptilodes antirrhina can cause damage to their respective host garden plants. Other plume-moths have been used as biological control agents against invasive plant species - Lantanophaga pusillidactyla against shrub verbena (Lantana camara), and Oidematophorus beneficus against mist flower (Ageratina riparia).

For additional information and links to other plume moth sites, see: http://www.plumemoth.com/