Kingdom Animalia Order Lepidoptera Genus Micropterix Higher classification Micropterix | Phylum Arthropoda Family Micropterigidae Scientific name Micropterix aureatella Rank Species | |
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Similar Micropterix, Micropterix aruncella, Micropterix calthella, Micropterigidae, Micropterix mansuetella | ||
Micropterix aureatella is a moth of the family Micropterigidae. It is found in the Palearctic ecozone (from Europe to Japan) except North Africa.
Contents
The wingspan is 9–11 millimetres (0.35–0.43 in). The base colour of the forewings is purple or bronze with two golden bands and an oval spot towards the wingtip.
The adults have working mandibles and feed on the pollen of a variety of flowers, especially those of Carex. The larvae are believed to feed on Vaccinium.
Subspecies
Taxonomy
Tinea merianella [Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775 is most probably a synonym of Micropterix aureatella, which is the only purple moth with three golden transverse fasciae within the federal territory of Vienna. The type of T. merianella was destroyed in the Hofburg fire in 1848 and it is thus hard to determine if the species is indeed a synonym.