# Thyme plume (*Merrifieldia leucodactyla*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/thyme-plume  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The thyme plume (Merrifieldia leucodactyla) is a species in the family Pterophoridae, order Lepidoptera. Source checklists list it for 47 countries, including Afghanistan, Albania and Algeria.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | Not recorded |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Lifespan | Not recorded |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | Not recorded |
| Young per litter or clutch | Not recorded |
| Conservation status | Not recorded |
| Countries on record | 47 countries |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Arthropoda
- class: Insecta
- order: Lepidoptera
- family: Pterophoridae
- genus: Merrifieldia
- species: *Merrifieldia leucodactyla* (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775)

Synonyms: *Aciptilia wernickei*, *Alucita dryogramma*, *Alucita fitzi*, *Alucita leucodactyla*, *Alucita niveidactylus*, *Alucita theiodactyla*, *Merrifeldia leucodactyla*, *Merrifieldia tetradactyla*, *Phalaena leucodactyla*, *Pterophorus leucodactyla*, *Pterophorus niveidactylus*

## Where it has been recorded

Countries with openly licensed sighting records on GBIF (records in brackets). Recorded sightings, not a definitive range.

Andorra (0), Afghanistan (0), Albania (0), Armenia (0), Austria (0), Åland Islands (0), Bosnia & Herzegovina (0), Belgium (0), Bulgaria (0), Switzerland (0), China (0), Czechia (0), Germany (0), Denmark (0), Algeria (0), Estonia (0), Spain (0), Finland (0), France (0), United Kingdom (0), Georgia (0), Greece (0), Croatia (0), Hungary (0), Ireland (0), Iran (0), Italy (0), Kazakhstan (0), Lithuania (0), Luxembourg (0), Latvia (0), Morocco (0), Montenegro (0), North Macedonia (0), Mongolia (0), Netherlands (0), Norway (0), Poland (0), Portugal (0), Romania (0), Serbia (0), Russia (0), Sweden (0), Slovenia (0), Slovakia (0), Türkiye (0), Ukraine (0)

## Common questions

### Where does the thyme plume live?

Catalogue of Life checklists list the thyme plume for 47 countries, including Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra and Armenia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.

### What kind of animal is the thyme plume?

The thyme plume (Merrifieldia leucodactyla) belongs to the family Pterophoridae in the order Lepidoptera.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4644424.v5), CC BY 4.0, v1. Oliveira, B.F., São-Pedro, V.A., Santos-Barrera, G., Penone, C. & Costa, G.C. (2017) AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits. Scientific Data 4: 170123. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.123. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4644424.v5
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), CC BY 4.0, v7. Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1), CC0 1.0, 1.0. Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Thyme plume (Merrifieldia leucodactyla). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/thyme-plume