Elachista albifrontella

Elachista albifrontella
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Elachistidae
Genus:	Elachista
Species:	E. albifrontella
Binomial name
Elachista albifrontella (Hubner, 1817)
Synonyms
Biselachista albifrontella Traugott-Olsen & Nielsen, 1977 Cosmiotes albifrontella Clemens, 1860 Tinea albifrontella Hübner, 1817

Elachista albifrontella is a moth of the Elachistidae family. It is found from Fennoscandia and northern Russia to the Pyrenees and Italy and from Ireland to Romania.

Mined leaves of Holcus mollis

Larva

The wingspan is 8–9 millimetres (0.31–0.35 in).^[1] Adults have a whitish forehead. They are on wing from June to July in one generation per year.^[2]

The larvae feed on Agrostis canina, Alopecurus pratensis, Arrhenatherum elatius, Avena, Avenula pubescens, Brachypodium sylvaticum, Bromus, Calamagrostis arundinacea, Calamagrostis epigejos, Dactylis glomerata, Deschampsia cespitosa, Elymus repens, Festuca rubra, Holcus lanatus, Holcus mollis, Koeleria macrantha, Luzula pilosa, Milium effusum, Phalaris arundinacea, Phleum, Poa pratensis, Poa trivialis, Trisetum and Triticum species. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine consists of a full depth blotch mine which descends from the leaf tip. It occupies half to the entire width of the blade. Larvae may exit the mine and start again elsewhere. The frass is deposited in a narrow central line with a greyish brown colour.^[3] Larvae can be found from September to May. Pupation takes place outside of the mine.

References