Cosmopterix orichalcea

Cosmopterix orichalcea is a moth of the family Cosmopterigidae. It is known from most of Europe (except the Balkan Peninsula) east to Japan.

A mined leaf blade of Festuca arundinacea

Larva

Cosmopterix orichalcea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Cosmopterigidae
Genus:	Cosmopterix
Species:	C. orichalcea
Binomial name
Cosmopterix orichalcea (Stainton, 1861)[1]
Synonyms
Cosmopteryx orichalcea Stainton, 1861 Cosmopteryx druryella Zeller, 1850 Cosmopterix singularis Sinev, 1979

The wingspan is about 9 mm.[2] Adults are on wing from August to May. Then the larva hibernates outside of the mine in a hibernaculum.

The larvae feed on Anthoxanthum odoratum, Festuca arundinacea, Hierochloe odorata, Milium species, Phalaris arundinacea and Phragmites australis. They mine the leaves of their host plant. They prefer the lower leaves. The mine has the form of an elongate, rather irregular blotch. Most frass is ejected, but the remaining frass is concentrated in a few heaps. A single larva makes several mines. Pupation takes place outside the mine.[3]

References

1. Fauna Europaea
2. UKmoths
3. "bladmineerders.nl". Archived from the original on 2012-09-14. Retrieved 2011-03-21.