David Element
Wildlife Photography and Digital Video Images
___________________________________________________________________Moths
116 – Plumed Fan-foot Moths
PLUMED
FAN-FOOT MOTH Pechipogo plumigeralis
PLUMED FAN-FOOT MOTH Pechipogo
plumigeralis
·
Fan-foot Moths (Noctuidae,
Herminiinae) are so-called because of
fan-shaped appendages on the hind legs of males. These have a high surface
area, and they are used for distributing pheromones. However, they will
normally be invisible unless one of these moths is taken captive as they are
hidden beneath the wings when at rest.
The Plumed Fan Foot Moth Pechipogo
plumigeralis, native to Europe and Northern
Africa, is normally only likely to be encountered as a rare immigrant to the UK
(although it has probably bred at coastal sites in Sussex). Although one of the
eponymous features of this moth cannot be seen easily, the other is clearly
visible (but only in males), namely the highly distinctive, plumed, antennae,
also with a massive surface area, but in this case designed to detect
pheromones. Therefore, it is straightforward to identify, as the ‘Y’ shaped,
elongated, palps are also prominent. This species may potentially be confused
more easily with the Snout Moth Hypaena proboscidalis, than with other members of the same
genus, but the shape of the tip of the forewings is less hooked, and the
wing-markings are clearly different. The larvae can utilise several different
foodplants. The photographs were taken in France.
-> Moths 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122
-> Species Index, Common Names
-> Species Index, Scientific Names
-> Site Index
-> Home