| Small Barred Long-horn (Adela croesella (Scopoli, 1763)) |
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Scientific name: Adela croesella (Scopoli, 1763) Common name: Small Barred Long-horn French name: Adela croesella Order: Lepidoptera Suborder: Microlepidoptera Family: Adelidae Subfamily: Adelinae Wingspan: 11 to 14 mm. Biotope: Open country where you can find the host plants. Geographic area: Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa. Flight time: May-June. Number of generations : 1 Caterpillar: Whitish with a dark brown head. It lives, when on the ground, inside a cylindrical portable case made up of a fine assembly of pieces of leaves and soil particles. Host plant: At the beginning the caterpillars feed on Common Sea-buckthorn flowers (Hippophae rhamnoides) or Common privet flowers (Ligustrum vulgare). Then they go down to the soil where they live inside a portable case and feed on fallen leaves. |
Adela croesella is a small and beautiful microlepidoptera with very long antennae. Those of males, which are thread-like, can reach four times the length of the body. Those of females, which are shorter, are thickened near the base. The fore wings are crossed, in their middle, by a yellow band bordered with black. You can see bluish purple bands on each side of the yellow band which are about the same width. The other parts, on both sides of these bands, show dark and golden longitudinal lines. There are sometimes other bluish purple marks near the apex, on the costal edge and near the base on the fore wings. The hind wings are a uniform greyish brown colour. The head is covered with a russet pubescence. There is a possible confusion with the Longhorn Moth (Nemophora degeerella) and Adela australis. The Longhorn Moth is a larger size than Adela croesella, the yellow band is not located in the middle of the wing and is closer to the tip of the wing (at about one third of the wing length). The purple marks are often larger on Adela croesella. Adela australis is a small size, with rather deep purple sheens. The ground colour of its fore wings is rather uniform without the longitudinal lines shown by Adela croesella. |
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Here is another unexpected visitor to the Buddleia. There are not yet flowers full of nectar at this period of the year. The Buddleia will only be in blossom early July. |
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The mid-long antennae, thickened near the base, indicate one female. |
André Bon October 2012