Megalorhipida leucodactyla (Fabricius, 1794)

Ustjuzhanin, Petr Ya., Kovtunovich, Vasiliy N., Kravchenko, Vasiliy D., Saldaitis, Aidas, Müller, Günter C. & Weinstein, Amir, 2020, A review of the plume moth fauna (Lepidoptera: Pterophoridae) of Israel, Israel Journal of Entomology (Oxford, England) 50 (1), pp. 163-177 : 170

27. Megalorhipida leucodactyla (Fabricius, 1794)

( Fig. 5)

Material examined: 3♂ Ein Gedi , 15.iv.1987, A. Freidberg ; 1♀ Hazeva Field School , 19.iv.1998, E. Ashkenazi ; 2 ex., indoors Steinhardt Museum of Natural History , Tel Aviv, 17.xi.2020, A. Weinstein. Observation records : One adult, 1 larva and 1 pupa were observed and photographed on Commicarpus plumbagineus Standl. ( Nyctaginaceae ) near the wall of the Zoological Gardens of Tel Aviv University on 17.xi.2020 by A. Weinstein .

Distribution: Widespread throughout tropical and subtropical regions ( Gielis 2003); Israel ( Amsel 1935 a, c, as Megalorhipida palaestinensis Amsel, 1935 ).

Host plants: Amsel (1935 a: 258) noted that in Israel the moths were not uncommon around Boerhavia sp. ( Nyctaginaceae ) in the evening. The species develops on a broad range of hosts, including both Boerhavia sp. and Commicarpus spp. ( Gielis 2003).