Cnephasia (Cnephasia) stephensiana
(Doubleday, [1849])
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Subfamily: Tortricinae, Cnephasiini
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Wingspan: 18-23 mm
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Flight period: Jul - Aug
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Spread: Common
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Host plants: Polyphagous
Information
The Cnephasia stephensiana also called Grey Tortrix is a moth of the Tortricidae family, subfamily Tortricinae,
with wingspan of about 18-23 mm.
In Europe it is well distributed, it is absent from Croatia. *
In Italy it is also present in the islands. **
The front wings of the Cnephasia stephensiana are brownish gray, with three series of irregular bands of color
brown / tawny crossing the front wing obliquely. The costa is presented in the color of the wing.
The rear wing is translucent gray / whitish. All wings are fringed **
Univoltine species, adults are visible in July and August, the same period in which the eggs are laid.
They hatch after about three weeks. The young caterpillars form a cocoon in which they overwinter.
They begin to feed in spring, initially undermining leaves later by living in folded leaves. ***
The egg is cream colored, it is deposited individually or in small batches on the food plant. ***
The larva is 15-18 mm long with a variable head in color, it can be light brown marked dark brown, or entirely brownish black or black.
The prothoracic plate is black, anteriorly bordered with gray, a narrow whitish medial sulcus.
The abdomen bright gray or bluish gray, variable and sometimes darker or lighter, or with a slight greenish tinge; black thoracic legs. ***
The pupa is blackish brown in color, prominent, curved spines of the cremaster. ***
The species is decidedly polyphagous, it has been recorded on over 120 different plant species.
* Lepidoptera mundi https://lepidoptera.eu/ - Fauna Europea https://fauna-eu.org/
** Bestimmungshilfe für die in Europa nachgewiesenen Schmetterlingsarten - http://lepiforum.de/
*** Eurasian Tortricidae 2.0 - https://eurasian-tortricidae.linnaeus.naturalis.nl/





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