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Grapholita compositella, the clover seed moth, is a moth of the family Tortricidae. It is found from Europe to Asia Minor, Mongolia, China and eastern Russia. It is also present in North America.

Grapholita compositella
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Tortricidae
Genus:	Grapholita
Species:	G. compositella
Binomial name
Grapholita compositella (Fabricius, 1775)
Synonyms
Tinea compositella Fabricius, 1775 Pyralis composana Fabricius, 1798 Tortrix gundiana Hubner, [1796-1799] Euspila simillimana Toll, 1953

The wingspan is 8–10 mm. The face and palpi are white. The forewings are dark fuscous. The costa has eight long white strigulae, several ending in leaden-metallic marks.There is a slightly curved broad quadrate whitish median dorsal blotch, with three parallel blackish lines, surmounted by a leaden-metallic mark. The ocellus is represented by a leaden - metallic transverse mark. The hindwings in the male are white, the apex broadly fuscous ; in the femalethey are dark fuscous, lighter basally.[1]

There are two generations per year, with adults on wing in May and June and again in August. Males fly during the day, while females fly towards sunset.

The larvae feed on Trifolium species, including Trifolium pratense and Trifolium repens. They have also been recorded on Glycine max, Medicago sativa, Melilotus, Lotus corniculatus and other Leguminosae species. The larvae of the first generation feed in the stems, tunnelling upwards from the base. Second generation larvae usually feed in spun terminal leaves and flowerheads, and sometimes in the pods. Pupation takes place in a whitish silken cocoon amongst litter on the ground.

References

External links

• UKmoths
• Eurasian Tortricidae

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