Platyptilia molopias

Platyptilia molopias
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Pterophoridae
Genus:	Platyptilia
Species:	P. molopias
Binomial name
Platyptilia molopias Meyrick, 1906
Synonyms
Platyptilia petila Yano, 1963

Platyptilia molopias is a moth of the Pterophoridae family. It has a very wide distribution in the Old World tropics, ranging from Africa through India and Sri Lanka, east to Indonesia. It is also found in the Philippines on Luzon, Mindoro, Negros and Mindanao.^[1]

The wingspan is about 15 mm.^[2]

The larvae feed on the flowers and unripe seeds of Teucrium tomentosum. The larvae are generally very pale green, but may vary in colour, and some examples might be described as reddish with a greenish latero-dorsal suffusion on the abdominal segments. The head is yellowish or pale green. Pupation takes place in a pale flesh-pink pupa which is suspended freely by the tail from an empty flower-sheath of the host plant.^[3]

Taxonomy

Some authors consider it to be a synonym of Platyptilia farfarellus.^[4]

References

1. Review of the Pterophoridae (Lepidoptera) from the Philippines
2. New Recorded Species of Pterophoridae from China (Lepidoptera: Pterophoridae)
3. Life-histories of Indian insects: Microlepidoptera
4. On the fauna of the plume moths (Lepidoptera, Pterophoridae) of KwaZulu Natal province (South-African Republic)