About Archips xylosteana (Linnaeus, 1758)
Archips xylosteana is a medium-sized to large moth with a wingspan of 14–23 millimetres (0.55–0.91 in). Females are usually slightly larger than males. The basic color of the forewings ranges from yellow-brown or ocher to pinkish brown, mottled with dark reddish brown markings. Forewings are broad and roughly rectangular, while hind wings are light grayish brown. Wing patterns may look lightly asymmetric, because at rest one wing covers the other and hides part of its pattern. Caterpillars of this species range from whitish gray to bluish with greenish reflections, and have a black head. Meyrick's description of this species notes: forewings have a sinuate, vertical termen; the costal fold extends from the base to 3/5, and is irregular; forewings are ochreous with more or less fuscous tinge, and paler towards the costa; a transverse dorsal spot near the base, a central fascia with a sinuate anterior edge, and a costal patch broadly connected to the fascia near the costa, a blotch from above the tornus sometimes connected to the costal patch, and an apical spot are all dark ferruginous-brown. Hindwings are grey, and the apex is sometimes yellowish-tinged. Larvae are whitish-grey or pale greenish; they have a black head, and the plate on the second segment is black with a white anterior edge. Julius von Kennel provides a full description of this species. This Palearctic moth is widespread across most of Europe, Asia (including China, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Siberia, Turkey), and northern Africa (Algeria). This moth species inhabits woodland and scrub in hilly and mountainous areas.
