Kingdom Animalia Class Insecta Family Choreutidae Scientific name Tebenna micalis | Phylum Arthropoda Order Lepidoptera Genus Tebenna Rank Species | |
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Similar Prochoreutis myllerana, Choreutis, Choreutidae, Bedellia somnulentella, Anthophila fabriciana | ||
Tebenna micalis, the small thistle moth, is a species of moth of the Choreutidae family. It is found nearly worldwide although in Europe it is found south of the line Ireland, Great Britain, France and Slovakia. In Britain it is an immigrant that occurs irregularly. Outside of Europe, it has been recorded from China (Henan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Tibet, Zhejiang), Nepal, Russia, Japan (Honshu, Ryukyu Islands), Afghanistan, Tadzhikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenia, Canary Islands, North Africa, Arabia, Asia Minor, Zakavkazye, Iran, Lebanon, New Zealand, and the Oriental, Ethiopian, Australian and Nearctic regions.
The wingspan is about 13 millimetres (0.51 in). It is extremely similar/identical to the Nearctic Tebenna gnaphaliella.
The larvae feed on Asteraceae. They were recorded on Pulicaria dysenterica in the United Kingdom, in Australia on Arctotheca calendula, Cirsium vulgare, Erigeron canadensis, Onopordum acanthium and Xerochrysum bracteatum, and in Réunion on Cynara scolymus (artichoke). They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine consists of a sizable blotch with an ample quantity of frass. The larva may leave its mine and restart elsewhere. Older larvae often live free in a web under the leaf.