Tebenna micalis
Tebenna micalis, also known as the small thistle moth, is a species of moth in the family Choreutidae found worldwide. It was first described by the German Bohemian entomologist, Joseph Johann Mann in 1857.
Description
The wingspan is about. It is similar in appearance to the Nearctic Tebenna gnaphaliella and can be found between June and August. It comes to light and can be found during the day on the flowers of the larval foodplant.The larvae feed on Asteraceae within a blotch, sometimes leaving the mine and starting another. Later instars can live freely in a web on the leaf. Larval foodplants recorded include, on common fleabane in the United Kingdom. In Australia on capeweed, spear thistle, horseweed, cotton thistle and golden everlasting ; and in Réunion on globe artichoke.
Larvae pupate on the underside of a leaf of the host plant, in a spindle-shaped cocoon.
Distribution
In Europe it is found south of the line Ireland, Great Britain, France and Slovakia. In Britain it is an immigrant that occurs irregularly, since it was first discovered in the 1980s. Outside of Europe, it has been recorded from China, Nepal, Russia, Japan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Canary Islands, North Africa, Arabia, Asia Minor, Zakavkazye, Iran, Lebanon, New Zealand, and the Oriental, Ethiopian, Australian and Nearctic regions.Subspecies
- Tebenna micalis micalis
- Tebenna micalis dialecta Diakonoff, 1985