Life history observations of Opostegidae

The following pages share the results of recent investigations into the life histories of opostegid moths associated with the host plant families Lamiaceae and Grossulariaceae.

Portraits of Opostegidae life stages and plant damage

Some of the findings described here apparently represent new discoveries that have not been documented before, including the identities of certain host plants, various details of the larval feeding habits, the life stage in which some individuals overwinter, and more. Photographs of plant damage, larvae, cocoons, a pupa, and reared adults of several of these moths are published here for the first time, and parasitoid wasps associated with the moths are also documented.

J. van der Linden's findings shared below include observations of opostegids from several host plants in the Upper Midwest, USA. In addition, E. van Nieukerken has kindly provided a report documenting his observations of opostegid life histories in Europe.

The following links will open in a new tab. Each report by JvdL contains text at the top, followed by a series of images with captions. Each image has been provided with forward and backward arrows to allow easy navigation from one image to the next, in effect creating an HTML slideshow. Click or tap the arrow(s) associated with each image to move back and forth. On some mobile devices these will display at the top of each image. You may also scroll or swipe up or down to move between images.

Please read the notice to website visitors before proceeding.

Opostegidae from the Upper Midwest, USA (by J. van der Linden)

Opostegidae from Europe (by E. van Nieukerken)

L-R: Head of nearly mature *Blephilia* opostegid larva; mature larva of *Blephilia* opostegid; plant damage from late-stage larvae of *Agastache* opostegid; cocoon of *Agastache* opostegid after adult's emergence, with pupal exuviae protruding; adult of *Blephilia* opostegid.