Paysandisia archon Insect Nocturnal Butterfly Castniid Sun Moth

Paysandisia archon one wing lenght cm 4-4.5 Insect Nocturnal Butterfly Castniid Sun Moth, A1- quality (specimen has small imperfections).
Family: Castniidae.
Common name: The Castnide of Palm Trees.
Syn. Castnia archon, Castnia josepha.

Paysandisia archon (Burmeister, 1880) is a moth belonging to the Castniidae family of South American origin, recently introduced in Europe. It is the only species of the genus Paysandisia.
Sexual dimorphism is accentuated, since the female is much larger than the male, and shows a pointed ovipositor, 4–5 mm long.
The wingspan of the male reaches 90 mm, that of the female is 110 mm.
The caterpillar creates long parallel tunnels inside the host plant tissues, which increase in diameter as the size of the larva increases, often causing the death of the plant.
The original area of ??the species included only South America, and in particular Argentina (locus typicus), western Uruguay, Paraguay and south-eastern Brazil.
However, thanks to the fact that some larvae have been transported by man inside leaf-like palms of palms like those of the genus Trithrinax, currently the species has become a pest also for Mediterranean Europe. In detail, reports were made in Spain and southern France, in the United Kingdom and the Balearic Islands. A case was also reported in the Netherlands in 2006. As regards Italy, specimens were reported in Salerno in 2002, in Ascoli Piceno in 2003, in Tuscany in 2004, and in Liguria in 2008, but it is likely that the moth is also present elsewhere.
The preferred habitat is represented, in the places of origin, by tropical or sub-tropical palm groves, or in any case green areas with mixed vegetation, in which palm trees are present. In Europe, on the other hand, the species is spreading along the coasts, in correspondence with the rows of palm trees in the coastal areas of the seaside towns.
No damage problems have ever been reported to the forest heritage, by Paysandisia archon, in the area of ??origin, ie in South America, since in these ecosystems, the species lives in equilibrium with a certain number of natural predators and antagonists (nematodes, hymenoptera, birds and so on). Furthermore, in the neotropical eco-zone this moth parasitizes exclusively palm trees of wild species, and not crops for production. The problem arose when he arrived in Europe, as in the old world there are no natural factors that could limit his expansion; the effect it is having in the countries of the northern Mediterranean shore translates into economic as well as aesthetic damage.