Lozotaenia forsterana in Malvern

Frank Screen

Lozotaenia forsterana is the largest of the Tortricoid moths.

On Wednesday 2^nd March 2011 I found a 7mm long larva crawling up the inside of the glass window in our kitchen door. I decided to attempt to rear the larva and tried it with buddleia leaves. One of these was pulled together and from the frass that fell out I knew it was feeding. I continued to clean out the container and change the leaves on a regular basis. By 21^st March the larva had grown to 25mm long. On 27^th March it had stopped eating and by the 31^st the change into a pupa had been completed. From the eating habits I assumed it was a Tortricoid moth larva. On 16^th April the moth emerged to reveal a 15mm long Lozotaenia forsterana.

David Grundy identified it for me when I attended a moth day on 3^rd July.

Images

Fig. 1. Lozotaenia forsterana larva. ©Frank Screen.

Fig. 2. Lozotaenia forsterana pupal case. ©Frank Screen.

Fig. 3. Lozotaenia forsterana moth. ©Frank Screen