Zeuzera pyrina

• Subfamily: Zeuzerinae
• Wingspan: 40-75 mm
• Flight period: May - Aug
• Spread: Common
• Host plants: Rosaceae - Salicaceae

Information

The Zeuzera pyrina is a moth of the Cossidae family with a wingspan of 40-75 mm.
In Europe, this moth can be found almost everywhere, with the exception of Iceland and Ireland. *
It can also be found in northern Africa Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and in Asia Taiwan, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Korea, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Syria, Turkey. It was introduced to the northeastern United States before 1879 and has a range that extends from Maine, Pennsylvania, and Texas. **
In Italy it is also visible in the islands. *

The Zeuzera pyrina have a white head, with a black front and a white thorax with thick hair. marked with six black or bluish dots. The abdomen is black, with short, white hair-like scales on the posterior edge of each segment and a flat brush of scales on the apex. The front wings are whitish, long and narrow, with numerous black or bluish spots, arranged in rows along the veins. The hind wings are translucent, except in the anal area, with small black spots.

The larvae are yellowish in color with the body strewn with blackish tubercles, placed in regular longitudinal rows. The head and the prothorax are blackish; the length is about 50-60 mm, when ripe. The eggs are pink in color. ***
The larvae dig tunnels in the central part of the affected woody organs (especially in the young branches); they can enter and exit the organs themselves several times.

Sexual dimorphism is characterized by size, which is larger in the female. Zeuzera pyrina completes its life cycle in 1 or 2 years.
Wintering takes place at the larva stage both in the first and in the possible second winter, inside the tunnels dug inside the branches. The flickering range is quite large; in fact, the adults are visible in flight from the end of May until August. Egg laying occurs either in old tunnels or in cracks in the bark or within lesions. As soon as they emerge from the eggs, the larvae penetrate the shoots which wither. ****

The larvae feed on Rosaceae such as Crategus sp. Malus (apple tree), Prunus avium (cherry tree), Prunus domestica (plum tree), Prunus spinosa (blackthorn) and Salicaceae such as Salix sp ..


* Lepidoptera mundi https://lepidoptera.eu/ - Fauna Europea https://fauna-eu.org/
** Timber Pests of PQ Significance Phytosanitary Solutions at the Wayback Machine.
*** Istruzione agraria online - https://www.agraria.org/
**** “Fitopatologia, entomologia agraria e biologia applicata” – M.Ferrari, E.Marcon, A.Menta; Edagricole scolastico - RCS Libri spa