Eilema morosina (Herrich-Schäffer, 1847)

Synonyms/other combinations:
Eilema costalis (Zeller, 1847)

Eilema morosina: Adult (e.l. Samos 2009) [S] Eilema morosina: Adult (e.l. Samos 2009) [S] Eilema morosina: Adult (e.l. Samos 2009) [S] Eilema morosina: Adult-portrait [S] Eilema morosina: Half-grown larva (Samos, May 2009) [S] Eilema morosina: Larva (Samos, May 2009) [S] Eilema morosina: Larva (Samos, May 2009) [S] Eilema morosina: Larva (Samos, May 2009) [N] Eilema morosina: Larva (Samos, May 2009) [S] Eilema morosina: Pupa [S] Eilema morosina: Larval habitat in Samos, May 2009. [N]

Host plants:
The caterpillar feeds on lichens, algae and mosses and probably also dead and soft living plant parts.

Habitat:
Eilema morosina inhabits mostly semi-shaded rocks, walls, old buildings and similar stone-dominated habitats. Whether the caterpillars live also on tree lichens is not yet certain, but probable.

Life cycle:
I found the caterpillar commonly in Samos in early May 2009. They are significantly larger than those of Eilema complana and E. pseudocomplana. They reach maturity between mid/late May and June. But the moths fly usually only from August to early October after breeding experience.

Remarks:
Eilema morosina is distributed from the Balkans to the eastern Turkey. It also occurs on the Aegean islands off the coast of Asia Minor (Samos, Rhodes, etc.) and in Crete and Cyprus.

Hints on determination:
The larvae are distinct from E. complana. Moreover, they get much larger. Eilema morosina is the largest European Eilema.



Eilema albicosta | Eilema bipunctata | Eilema caniola | Eilema cereola | Eilema complana | Eilema deplana | Eilema griseola | Eilema interpositella | Eilema lurideola | Eilema lutarella | Eilema palliatella | Eilema pygmaeola | Eilema sororcula | Eilema uniola