Limnaecia phragmitella

The shy cosmet moth (Limnaecia phragmitella) is a moth of the family Cosmopterigidae. It is known from all of Europe, as well as Asia, Australia and New Zealand. It is also present in North America, where it is distributed from Nova Scotia to Virginia, west to Oklahoma and north to Ontario. The habitat consists of fens and marshes.

Imago, larva and Typha latifolia inflorescence, showing external effects of the larva inside it

Limnaecia phragmitella
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Cosmopterigidae
Genus:	Limnaecia
Species:	L. phragmitella
Binomial name
Limnaecia phragmitella Stainton, 1851[1]
Synonyms
Limnoecia phragmitella Stainton, 1851

The moth is about 15–22 mm. Adults are on wing in July in western Europe [2] and from June to August in North America. Adults have shiny yellowish-tan forewings with two white-ringed dark brown dots and some dark brown shading near the apex. The hindwing is tan shaded with gray.[3]

The larvae feed inside the seedheads of Typha species, including Typha angustifolia and Typha latifolia. There are indications that young larvae mine in the spongy tissue of the leaf sheaths.[4] The larvae have a whitish or pale tan body with a brown dorsal line. The dorsolateral and ventrolateral lines are composed of light brown irregular patches. The head is brown with darker brown spots and there are brown spots on the terminal abdominal segment.