Kingdom Animalia Class Insecta Family Cosmopterigidae Scientific name Cosmopterix schmidiella | Phylum Arthropoda Order Lepidoptera Genus Cosmopterix Rank Species | |
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Similar Cosmopterix orichalcea, Cosmopterix attenuatella, Cosmopterix, Cosmopterix pulchrimella, Anatrachyntis | ||
Cosmopterix schmidiella is a moth of the Cosmopterigidae family. It is found from most of Great Britain to Romania, and from Japan through central Russia to the Iberian Peninsula. It is believed to be extinct in Britain.
The wingspan is 9-9.5 mm. Adults are on wing from August to May. Then the larva hibernates outside of the mine in a hibernaculum.
The larvae feed on Lathyrus montanus, Lathyrus niger, Vicia sepium and Vicia pisiformis. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine has the form of a large blotch, that may occupy an entire leaflet. During feeding pauses, the larva rests in a silken resting place above the midrib. Pupation takes place outside of the mine.
Subspecies
References
Cosmopterix schmidiella Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA