Kingdom Animalia Class Insecta Family Cosmopterigidae Scientific name Cosmopterix orichalcea | Phylum Arthropoda Order Lepidoptera Genus Cosmopterix Rank Species | |
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Similar Cosmopterix, Pancalia schwarzella, Sorhagenia rhamniella, Limnaecia phragmitella, Bucculatrix demaryella | ||
Cosmopterix orichalcea is a moth of the Cosmopterigidae family. It is known from most of Europe (except the Balkan Peninsula) east to Japan.
The wingspan is about 9 mm. 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.
References
Cosmopterix orichalcea Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA