Ethmia pusiella

Ethmia pusiella is a moth of the family Depressariidae. It occurs throughout Europe and eastwards to the Tien Shan mountains of eastern Central Asia.[1]

Illustration from John Curtis's British Entomology Volume 6

Ethmia pusiella
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Depressariidae
Genus:	Ethmia
Species:	E. pusiella
Binomial name
Ethmia pusiella (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
Numerous, see text

The wingspan is 19 to 20 millimetres (0.75 to 0.79 in).

The caterpillars feed on common gromwell (Lithospermum officinale) and Pulmonaria officinalis. They have also been recorded to be myrmecophilous.[2]

Taxonomy and systematics

E. pusiella is the type species of the proposed genera Anesychia and Melanoleuca, which are now considered junior synonyms of Ethmia. If considered separate from Ethmia, the senior synonym Anesychia must be used.[1]

Two subspecies are accepted nowadays:[1]

• E. p. pusiella – western populations, east to Ural Mountains and Asia Minor
• E. p. deletella – eastern populations, Central Asia and Tien Shan

In earlier times, E. candidella and E. fumidella were considered varieties of E. pusiella.[1]

Junior synonyms of E. pusiella are:[1]

• Ethmia deletella de Lattin, 1963
• Ethmia lithospermella (Hübner, 1789)
• Ethmia scalacella (Kühn, 1777)
• Phalaena (Tinea) pusiella Linnaeus, 1758
• Tinea lithospermella Hübner, 1789
• Tinea scalacella Kühn, 1777

Footnotes

1. See references in Savela (2003)
2. Grabe (1942), and see references in Savela (2003)

References

• Grabe, Albert (1942): Eigenartige Geschmacksrichtungen bei Kleinschmetterlingsraupen ["Strange tastes among micromoth caterpillars"]. Zeitschrift des Wiener Entomologen-Vereins 27: 105-109 [in German]. PDF fulltext
• Savela, Markku (2003): Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms – Ethmia. Version of 2003-DEC-29. Retrieved 2010-APR-21.