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Peribatodes rhomboidaria (Denis & Schiffermüller)
Boarmia gemmaria Brahm

Insecta, Lepidoptera, Geometridae .

Willow beauty moth

Description, Biology, Life Cycle, Damage, Common Names, Images

[R]Description
- Adult: 40 to 50 mm wingspan. The wings display grey-whitish and grey-brownish marbling (*) .
- Larva: fairly large, can reach up to 80 mm in length. Grey-brownish with, on each side of the body, a dark wavy line. On the front and rear segments of the body there is a dark dorsal line. The three anterior pairs of prolegs are absent, thus the moth moves with a looping motion (*) .
- Egg: laid singly.

[R]Biology
- Host plants: vines and fruit trees.
- Adult: the adult moth emerges from July to August (main flight period). The moth flies by night and at dusk. Mating occurs at this time. A female can lay up to 500 eggs.
- Larva: in autumn, after the eggs hatch, the caterpillars start to feed but the damage caused is of short duration and generally, insignificant. The caterpillars then seek out winter quarters (in slits in the bark and in the earth). Gripping the shoot using their two pairs of hind prolegs in diagonal fashion, the resting caterpillars mimic vine shoots. Growth is completed by the start of the summer.
- Pupa: pupation occurs at the end of May-beginning of June, in the ground, near the surface. One or two months later, the adult moths emerge.

[R]Life Cycle
- From mid-April to the end of April, after hibernating, the caterpillars (which, in the meantime have reached 30 to 40 mm in length) leave their shelter and start to attack buds, moving on to the leaves.
-After completing their growth (length 50 to 80 mm) the caterpillars bury themselves in the ground, near the surface, spin a cocoon and pupate.
-From July onwards of the same year, the adult moths appear.
-The young caterpillars overwinter in slits in the bark and in the ground.

[R]Damage
Destruction of bud (*) and consumption of leaves by the voracious caterpillars emerging in spring.
DE: Rhombenspanner ES: Oruga romboidal FR: Chenille arpenteuse à losanges, Phalène à losanges IT: Boarmia delle gemme della vite PT: Lagarta boarmia GB: Willow beauty moth

[R] Images

  1. Peribatodes rhomboidaria (Denis & Schiffer.) (BASF)
    Adult
  2. Peribatodes rhomboidaria (Denis & Schiffer.) (BASF)
    Caterpillar on vine
  3. Peribatodes rhomboidaria (Denis & Schiffer.) (BASF)
    Damage on bud of vine

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