Vittaplusia vittata (Wallengren, 1856)

Synonyms/other combinations:
Trichoplusia vittata
Ctenoplusia vittata

Vittaplusia vittata: Adult (e.l. rearing, Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, larva in early December 2017) [S] Vittaplusia vittata: Adult (e.l. rearing, Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, larva in early December 2017) [S] Vittaplusia vittata: Adult (e.l. rearing, Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, larva in early December 2017) [S] Vittaplusia vittata: Adult (e.l. rearing, Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, larva in early December 2017) [S] Vittaplusia vittata: Adult (e.l. rearing, Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, larva in early December 2017) [S] Vittaplusia vittata: Adult (e.l. rearing, Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, larva in early December 2017) [S] Vittaplusia vittata: Adult (e.l. rearing, Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, larva in early December 2017) [S] Vittaplusia vittata: Adult (e.l. rearing, Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, larva in early December 2017) [S] Vittaplusia vittata: Adult (e.l. rearing, Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, larva in early December 2017) [S] Vittaplusia vittata: Adult directly after eclosion (e.l. rearing, Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, larva in early December 2017) [S] Vittaplusia vittata: Adult directly after eclosion (e.l. rearing, Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, larva in early December 2017) [S] Vittaplusia vittata: Adult after eclosion drying its wings (e.l. rearing, Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, larva in early December 2017) [S] Vittaplusia vittata: Half-grown larva (Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, early December 2017) [M] Vittaplusia vittata: Half-grown larva (Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, early December 2017) [M] Vittaplusia vittata: Half-grown larva (Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, early December 2017) [M] Vittaplusia vittata: Larva (e.l. rearing, Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, larva in early December 2017) [S] Vittaplusia vittata: Larva (e.l. rearing, Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, larva in early December 2017) [S] Vittaplusia vittata: Larva (e.l. rearing, Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, larva in early December 2017) [S] Vittaplusia vittata: Larva (e.l. rearing, Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, larva in early December 2017) [S] Vittaplusia vittata: Larva (e.l. rearing, Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, larva in early December 2017) [S] Vittaplusia vittata: Larva (e.l. rearing, Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, larva in early December 2017) [S] Vittaplusia vittata: Larva (e.l. rearing, Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, larva in early December 2017) [S] Vittaplusia vittata: Larva (e.l. rearing, Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, larva in early December 2017) [S] Vittaplusia vittata: Larva (e.l. rearing, Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, larva in early December 2017) [S] Vittaplusia vittata: Larva (e.l. rearing, Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, larva in early December 2017) [S] Vittaplusia vittata: Larva (e.l. rearing, Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, larva in early December 2017) [S] Vittaplusia vittata: Larva (e.l. rearing, Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, larva in early December 2017) [S] Vittaplusia vittata: Larva (e.l. rearing, Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, larva in early December 2017) [S] Vittaplusia vittata: Larva (e.l. rearing, Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, larva in early December 2017) [S] Vittaplusia vittata: Larva (e.l. rearing, Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, larva in early December 2017) [S] Vittaplusia vittata: Pupa (e.l. rearing, Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, larva in early December 2017) [S] Vittaplusia vittata: Pupa (e.l. rearing, Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, larva in early December 2017) [S] Vittaplusia vittata: Pupa (e.l. rearing, Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, larva in early December 2017) [S] Vittaplusia vittata: Pupa (e.l. rearing, Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, larva in early December 2017) [S] Vittaplusia vittata: Pupa two days prior to eclosion (e.l. rearing, Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, larva in early December 2017) [S] Vittaplusia vittata: Larval habitat with Erigeron in a costal avenue (Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, early December 2017) [N] Vittaplusia vittata: Larval habitat with Erigeron in a costal avenue (Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, early December 2017) [N] Vittaplusia vittata: Larval habitat with Erigeron in a costal avenue (Tenerife Island, Puerto de la Cruz, early December 2017) [N]

Host plants:
The larvae live polyphagously on herbaceous plants. I found it on Erigeron canadensis in Tenerife Island.

Habitat:
Vittaplusia vittata inhabits most often tropical to subtropical cultural land and penetrates also into cities.

Life cycle:
The moths occur year-round in various generations. The larva usually lives on the lower side of the leaves or well hidden within the plant canopy.

Remarks:
Vittaplusia vittata is quite widespread in Africa South of the Sahara and in parts of SW-Asia (from the Near East and the Arabian Peninsula to W-Pakistan). It is also known from the Canaries (Tenerife and Gran Canaria, supposedly also other islands) and at least sporadically from Cyprus. Single specimes may rarely reach Southernmost Europe (e.g. Crete), but observations miss so far. Displaced specimens have been found in Great Britain.


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