Palpita vitrealis (Rossi, 1794)

Kravchenko, Vasiliy D., Poltavsky, Alexander, Segerer, Andreas, Speidel, Wolfgang & Müller, Günter C., 2020, An annotated checklist of the Crambidae (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea) of Israel, with remarks on their distribution and phenology, Israel Journal of Entomology (Oxford, England) 50 (1), pp. 85-129 : 122

150. Palpita vitrealis (Rossi, 1794)

Records: Amsel (1933); Avidov & Rosen (1961, as Glyphodes unionalis ); Palmoni (1969); Halperin & Sauter (1992, as Palpita unionalis ); collection of Z. Shoham.

General distribution: Almost cosmopolitan. Widespread in sub­Saharan Africa, South Europe, Middle East, tropical Asia, Australia, North and South Americas. In Europe, it is a migratory species.

Distribution in Israel: All over country. In desert concentrates in oases.

Period of flight in Israel: February–August and October–December.

Host plants: Forsythia sp. , Fraxinus americana , Fraxinus angustifolia , Jasminum azoricum , Jasminum officinale , Jasminum sambac , Ligustrum japonicum , Ligustrum lucidum , Ligustrum ovalifolium , Ligustrum sinense , Olea europaea , Phillyrea latifolia ( Oleaceae ), Arbutus sp. ( Ericaceae ), Funtumia sp. ( Apocynaceae ). The larvae of the jasmine moth did not develop on Jasminum mesnyi or J. humile in experiment ( Avidov & Rosen 1961). The species cause severe damage to olive groves, with both leaves and fruits being damaged.