Xenolechia aethiops

Xenolechia aethiops is a moth of the family Gelechiidae. It is found from Ireland, Great Britain and Denmark to the Iberian Peninsula, Sardinia, Italy and Greece. It is also present in North Africa and Turkey and has also been reported from North America,[2] with records from Alberta, Arizona, California, Maine, Saskatchewan and Texas.[3]

A sprig of heath eaten by larva
Larva

Xenolechia aethiops
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Gelechiidae
Genus: Xenolechia
Species:
X. aethiops
Binomial name
Xenolechia aethiops
Synonyms
  • Anacampsis aethiops Humphreys & Westwood, 1845
  • Anacampsis aterrima Edleston, 1844
  • Gelechia aethiopella Doubleday, 1859
  • Gelechia squamulella Peyerimhoff, 1871
  • Gelechia quinquecristatella Chambers, 1878
  • Gelechia diffinis var. tristis Staudinger, 1879

The wingspan is about 18 mm. The forewings are dark fuscous.stigmata black, raised, first discal much beyond plical ; a similar spot in disc obliquely before plical, another on fold rather beyond first discal, and a third close beneath second discal. Hindwings considerably over 1, grey. The larva is dull reddish, segmental incisions greenish ; dots black ; head brown ; plate of 2 black, crescentic, bisected[4]

Adults are on wing in May and June.[5]

The larvae feed on Erica cinerea. Young larvae mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine is probably a small fleck mine. Older larva make a tunnel of silk on a twig. The silk is mixed with frass and leaf fragments. The larvae feed on the leaves from within this tunnel.[6]

References
  1. Fauna Europaea
  2. Xenolechia at funet
  3. mothphotographersgroup
  4. Meyrick, E., 1895 A Handbook of British Lepidoptera MacMillan, London pdf This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. Keys and description
  5. UKmoths
  6. bladmineerders.nl


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