Wheeleria spilodactylus

Wheeleria spilodactylus, the horehound plume moth, is a moth of the family Pterophoridae, first described by John Curtis in 1827. It is found in South-Western and Central Europe and the Mediterranean, Asia Minor and North Africa. It has been introduced to Australia and New Zealand (in 2018 by Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research) as a biocontrol agent for white horehound (Marrubium vulgare).^[1]

Illustration from John Curtis's British Entomology Volume 6

Depicted in William Buckler The larvæ of the British butterflies and moths 1901 Fig. 7 larva after final moult 7a pupa

Wheeleria spilodactylus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Pterophoridae
Genus:	Wheeleria
Species:	W. spilodactylus
Binomial name
Wheeleria spilodactylus Curtis, 1827
Synonyms
Pterophorus spilodactylus Aciptilus confusus

The wingspan is 20–25 millimetres (0.79–0.98 in). Adults are on wing from July to September depending on the location.^[2]

The difficult to see larvae feed on black horehound (Ballota nigra) and white horehound.