About Wheeleria spilodactylus (Curtis, 1827)
Wheeleria spilodactylus, commonly known as the horehound plume moth, is a moth species in the family Pterophoridae. It was first described by John Curtis in 1827. This species is naturally distributed in South-Western Europe, Central Europe, the Mediterranean region, Asia Minor, and North Africa. It was intentionally introduced to Australia and New Zealand in 2018 by Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research, to act as a biological control agent against white horehound (Marrubium vulgare). The wingspan of adult Wheeleria spilodactylus measures 20–25 millimetres (0.79–0.98 in). Depending on their location, adult moths are active in flight from July to September. The larvae, which are difficult to spot, feed on black horehound (Ballota nigra) and white horehound.
