Biology:Cosmopterix lienigiella

Short description: Species of moth

Cosmopterix lienigiella
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Cosmopterigidae
Genus:	Cosmopterix
Species:	C. lienigiella
Binomial name
Cosmopterix lienigiella Zeller, 1846

Cosmopterix lienigiella is a moth of the family Cosmopterigidae. It is found from Fennoscandia to Spain , the Alps and Greece and from Ireland to Ukraine . It is also present in eastern Russia and Japan . It is the type species of the genus Cosmopterix.

Mined leaf blade of Phragmites

Larva

The wingspan is 10–13 mm. The forewings are light brownish ochreous; costal and dorsal edges white; a fine white longitudinal subcostal line from costa near base to 1/3, another along fold from base to middle, and a short one beneath posterior extremity of this; a somewhat brighter fascia beyond middle, narrowed dorsally, edged with pale golden metallic streaks, posterior interrupted, anterior followed by a variable black spot above middle; a white longitudinal streak from near beyond this to apex. Hindwings are grey. The larva is rosy-whitish, sometimes with rosy transverse bands; dorsal line darker; head black; 2 broad, with a black mark.

Adults are on wing from September to April.

The larvae feed on Phragmites australis. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine starts as a gallery, but soon widens to a broad blotch, entirely or partly running upwards, in the end half as wide as the leaf. Most frass is concentrated in the first section. Pupation takes place in a cocoon in the top section of the mine.

References

Wikidata ☰ Q293049 entry