The Thyme Moth is a moth

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 Gelechiidae

Gelechiidae

Gelechiidae is a family of moths commonly referred to as twirler moths or gelechiid moths. They are the namesake family of the huge and little-studied superfamily Gelechioidea, and the Gelechiidae's relationships with and delimitation against their relatives have been subject to considerable...

 family. It is found in most of Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, except Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 and Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

.
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 10-12 mm. Adults are on wing from June to July.

The larvae feed on Thymus praecox arcticus

Thymus praecox

Thymus praecox is a species of thyme. A common name is Mother-of-Thyme; "creeping thyme" and "wild thyme" may be used where Thymus serpyllum, normally called thus, is not found. This thyme has a strong scent similar to Oregano. It can be used in cuisine or as an evergreen ground cover for gardens.T...

, Thymus pulegioides, Thymus serpyllum and Satureja montana. 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 small, brown, full depth blotch mine without frass

Frass

Frass is the fine powdery material phytophagous insects pass as waste after digesting plant parts. It causes plants to excrete chitinase due to high chitin levels, it is a natural bloom stimulant, and has high nutrient levels. Frass is known to have abundant amoeba, beneficial bacteria, and fungi...

. The mine is made young leaves. They feed from a protective spinning. Older larvae leave the mine and engage in upper-surface window feeding, while hidden among spun leaves. Larvae can be found from May to June. They are dull brownish green with five purplish-brown length lines and a black head.

Subspecies

• Scrobipalpa artemisiella artemisiella
• Scrobipalpa artemisiella oreocyrniella Petry, 1904 (Sardinia, Corsica)