Agonopterix fruticosella
Encyclopedia
Agonopterix fruticosella is a moth
of the Oecophoridae
family. It is found in southern France
and on the Iberian Peninsula
.
The wingspan
is 20-23 mm. The forewings are pale stony cinereous evenly speckled with small groups of blackish scales. The hindwings are shining, pale tawny cinereous.
The larvae feed on Bupleurum rigidum species. They initially mine
the leaves of their host plant. The mine has the form of a broad, brownish, full depth corridor. Later, the larva vacates the mine and continues window feeding. There are often several mines in a single leaf. Even later, the larva lives free under a spinning and eventually folds a leaf margin fastening it with silk. Larvae can be found at the end of June.
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
of the Oecophoridae
Oecophoridae
Oecophoridae is a family of small moths in the superfamily Gelechioidea. The phylogeny and systematics of gelechoid moths are still not fully resolved, and the circumscription of the Oecophoridae is strongly affected by this....
family. It is found in southern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and on the Iberian Peninsula
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
.
The wingspan
Wingspan
The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...
is 20-23 mm. The forewings are pale stony cinereous evenly speckled with small groups of blackish scales. The hindwings are shining, pale tawny cinereous.
The larvae feed on Bupleurum rigidum species. They initially mine
Leaf miner
Leaf miner is a term used to describe the larvae of many different species of insect which live in and eat the leaf tissue of plants. The vast majority of leaf-mining insects are moths , sawflies and flies , though some beetles and wasps also exhibit this behavior.Like Woodboring beetles, leaf...
the leaves of their host plant. The mine has the form of a broad, brownish, full depth corridor. Later, the larva vacates the mine and continues window feeding. There are often several mines in a single leaf. Even later, the larva lives free under a spinning and eventually folds a leaf margin fastening it with silk. Larvae can be found at the end of June.