Merrifieldia leucodactyla
species of insect
Merrifieldia leucodactyla, also known as the thyme plume, is a moth of the family Pterophoridae, and is known from most of Europe, as well as North Africa and Asia Minor. It was first described by the Austrian lepidopterists, Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775).
Description
Thyme plumes are identified by their distinctive checkered pattern on the antennas, and a finite fuzzy brown line along the entire straw-yellow forewing. The wingspan is 18–25 millimetres (0.71–0.98 in). A close relative, the western thyme plume (Merrifieldia tridactyla) also feeds on thyme and antennae should be checked to confirm identification.
The larvae are green with a white-edged dark green dorsal line. There is a dark green subdorsal line, and yellowish grey spiracular line. The head is yellowish green. The larvae feed the leaves and developing seeds on wild thyme (Thymus serphyllum), wild lungwort (Pulmonaria officinalis) and marjoram (Origanum vulgare). They start to feed in late-July or August, and after overwintering they pupate in the following June or July.
“Merrifieldia leucodactyla” enters the record as species of insect. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Merrifieldia, leucodactyla and species can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Merrifieldia leucodactyla” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Merrifieldia, leucodactyla and species provides the most credible route into that argument.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 29, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q8365455. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1775.
Current terminology should not be projected backward without checking the classification used when the underlying evidence was created. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Merrifieldia leucodactyla” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.