Rhizedra lutosa (Hübner, 1803)


Rhizedra lutosa: Female (SW-Germany, northern Upper Rhine Valley, October 2018) [M] Rhizedra lutosa: Female (SW-Germany, northern Upper Rhine Valley, October 2018) [M] Rhizedra lutosa: Female (SW-Germany, northern Upper Rhine Valley, October 2018) [M] Rhizedra lutosa: Female (SW-Germany, northern Upper Rhine Valley, October 2018) [M] Rhizedra lutosa: Male (SW-Germany, northern Upper Rhine Valley, October 2018) [M] Rhizedra lutosa: Male (SW-Germany, northern Upper Rhine Valley, October 2018) [M] Rhizedra lutosa: Male (Upper Rhine, 01.11.2011) [N] Rhizedra lutosa: Larva (Jagst near Langenburg, mid-June 2012) [M] Rhizedra lutosa: Larva (Jagst near Langenburg, June 2012) [S] Rhizedra lutosa: Larva (Jagst near Langenburg, mid-June 2012) [S] Rhizedra lutosa: If you pull on a infested reed stem, it will break near the ground and the light larval droppings in the gallery become visible. Jagst near Langenburg, mid-June 2012. [M] Rhizedra lutosa: Feeding pattern: dying reed stem. Jagst near Langenburg, mid-June 2012. [N] Rhizedra lutosa: Habitat at the Upper Rhine near Dettenheim at larval time (June 2011). Infested reed stems mostly die completely. [N] Rhizedra lutosa: Habitat (Sreed along a ditch) in the end of the flight time (Upper Rhine near Dettenheim, November 2011) [N]

Host plants:
The caterpillar lives in basal parts and in the rhizome of reed (Phragmites).

Habitat:
Rhizedra lutosa inhabits reeds on more or less damp to wet standing plants, but that are not covered by water.

Life cycle:
The eggs overwinter. The caterpillar lives from mid-April to early August. The infested stems die off completely. If one draw at these, they usually just break off below the ground level and you realize the hollowed feeding tunnel that is filled by droppings. The larva is then usually already lower down in the rhizome. Once I was lucky enough to draw a larva up, too.

The moths fly in the autumn from late August to November and rest on old reed during daytime. I found a still quite well-preserved male on the Upper Rhine on 01/11/2011 resting on old reeds.

Endangerment factors:
Reed beds have been and still are further decimated in many places (especially by agriculture, also by overbuilding, reforestation).

Remarks:
Rhizedra lutosa occurs in Europe and temperate Asia to Japan.


German version / deutsche Version