Plutella xylostella (Linnaeus, 1758)
diamond-back
on Brassicaceae
Brassica oleracea, Belgium, prov. Hainaut, Mouscron, 6.vii.2018 © Stéphane Claerebout: young larva move in and out of the leaf
part of a leaf with small mines
mine
egg
Alliaria petiolata, Nunspeet
detail
Crambe maritima, Denmark, NW Zealand, Ordrup Næ, © Hans Henrik Bruun; free-living larvae and window feeding
mine
Eggs are deposited at the leaf lower surface. Young larva make a number of tiny full depth blotch or corridor mines, only a few mm in size, that contain no silk. Initially the frass is ejected from the mines, later it is stacked in the oldest part. Soon after the the larvae live free, eating windows in the leaf underside.
hostplants
Brassicaceae, Capparaceae, Cleomaceae, Tropaeolaceae; narrowly polyphagous
Aethionema arabicum; Alliaria petiolata; Alyssum; Arabidopsis; Arabis; Armoracia rusticana; Aubrieta deltoidea; Aurinia saxatilis; Barbarea vulgaris; Biscutella; Brassica napus, nigra, oleracea; Braya; Bunias; Cakile maritima; Capparis spinosa; Calepina; Camelina; Capsella; Cardamine; Cardaria; Cleome graveolens, spinosa; Cochlearia; Conringia orientalis; Crambe cordifolia, koktebelica, maritima; Diplotaxis; Eruca; Erucastrum; Erysimum cheiri; Hesperis matronalis; Hirschfeldia incana; Iberis; Isatis tinctoria; Lepidium sativum; Lobularia; Lunaria annua; Malcolmia littorea; Matthiola longipetala subsp. bicornis, odoratissima; Moricandia; Myagrum; Neslia; Peltaria; Raphanus raphanistrum, sativus; Reseda; Rorippa; Sinapis alba, arvensis; Sisymbrium supinum; Thlaspi; Tropaeolum.
Newman found a strong preference for Lepidium sativum.
phenology
Mining larvae in June and August (Agassiz, 1996a).
BENELUX
BE recorded (Phegea, 2008).
NE recorded (microlepidoptera.nl, 2008).
LUX recorded (Fauna Europaea, 2008).
distribution within Europe
cosmopolitain.
larva
pupa
Described by Patočka (1999b), Patočka & Turčáni (2005a).
synonyms
Plutella maculipennis (Curtis, 1832).
parasitoids, predators
notes
An important pest on various Brassicaceae (“diamond back moth”).
The reticulate cocoon strongly resembles the one of the related Acrolepiopsis assectella, but the material in assectella is clearly coarser (Landry, 2007a).
references
Agassiz (1996a), Aguiar & Karsholt (2006a), Amsel & Hering (1931a), Baldizzone (2008a), Baraniak (2007a), Bengtsson & Johansson (2011a), Biesenbaum (2003a), Buhr (1935a,b, 1936a, 1937a, 1964a), Deschka & Wimmer (2000a), Hering (1957a), Huemer (2012a), Huertas Dionisio (2002a, 2007a), Kozlov & Kullberg (2006a), Landry (2007a), Leutsch (2011a), Maček (1999a), Newman (2014a), Patočka (1999b), Patočka & Turčáni (2005a), Robbins (1991a), Skala (1951b), Szőcs (1977a), Tomasi (2014a), Žikić, Ritt, Colacci, ao (2019a).