Micropterix tuscaniensis
Encyclopedia
Micropterix tuscaniensis is a species of moth
belonging to the family Micropterigidae
. It was described by Heath in 1960. It is only known from Italy
, where it has been found in the provinces of Tuscany, Calabria, Puglia and Basilicata. It is probably distributed throughout the whole of mainland Italy, except the Alps.
Adults have been found at the edge of dense shrub- and woodland at rocky slopes in full sunshine. There, the adults rest underneath the leaves of beech, where they were crawling and probably feeding on pollen, gathered on the surface of the young, somewhat sticky leaves. Adults are on the wing from late April to early July, depending on the altitude.
The length of the forewings is 3.4-4.3 mm for males and 3.7-4.7 mm for females.
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
belonging to the family Micropterigidae
Micropterigidae
Micropterigoidea is the superfamily of "mandibulate archaic moths", all placed in the single family Micropterigidae, containing currently about 20 living genera. They are considered the most primitive extant lineage of Lepidoptera ....
. It was described by Heath in 1960. It is only known from Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, where it has been found in the provinces of Tuscany, Calabria, Puglia and Basilicata. It is probably distributed throughout the whole of mainland Italy, except the Alps.
Adults have been found at the edge of dense shrub- and woodland at rocky slopes in full sunshine. There, the adults rest underneath the leaves of beech, where they were crawling and probably feeding on pollen, gathered on the surface of the young, somewhat sticky leaves. Adults are on the wing from late April to early July, depending on the altitude.
The length of the forewings is 3.4-4.3 mm for males and 3.7-4.7 mm for females.