Elophila nymphaeata (Linnaeus, 1758) Species
Last modified: Feb. 16, 2020, 2:44 p.m.
A rather common species throughout Belgium.
Details
- Classification
- Family: Crambidae > Subfamily: Acentropinae > Genus: Elophila > Species: Elophila nymphaeata
- Vernacular names
- Waterleliemot (NL)
- Synonyms
- Elophila potamogata (Linnaeus, 1758) , Elophila nymphaealis (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775) and Elophila obscuralis (De Sélys-Longchamps, 1844)
- First mention in Belgium
- De Sélys-Longchamps E. 1844. Énumération des insectes Lépidoptères de la Belgique. — Mémoires de la Société royale des Sciences de Liége 2: 1–35. On page 19. view page
- Status
-
Native
Distribution
Imago
Museum specimens
No pictures yet!Specimens in nature
Bionomics
The larva first mines the underside of a leaf of an aquatic plant. Later on it lives in a flat, oval case made of pieces of a leaf. It hibernates. Pupation in a cocoon covered with pieces of leaf, attached to the stem of a plant about 25 mm above water level.
The adults are active at dusk and later come to light.
Flight periods
There are probably two generations year which are difficult to separate: from the end of May till mid September. Most abundant in the second half of July and in August.
Observed on
- Host plant (species):
- Potamogeton natans, Nymphaea alba, Nuphar lutea, Callitriche palustris, Potamogeton polyginifolius, Potamogeton gramineus, Potamogeton lucens, Potamogeton pectinatus and Nymphoides peltata
- Host plant (genera):
- Potamogeton, Hydrocharis and Sparganium
Polyphagous on aquatic plants. The main hostplant is Potamogeton sp., but the larva has also been recorded from a variety of other aquatic plants, even from very different plant families.
Habitat
Different kinds of water parties: lakes, ponds, slow streaming rivers, marshes, etc.
