Cosmopterix lienigiella

• Subfamily: Cosmopteriginae
• Wingspan: 10-13 mm
• Flight period: Apr - Sep
• Spread: Rare (in Italy)
• Host plants: Phragmites australis

Information

The Cosmopterix lienigiella is a small moth of the Cosmopterigidae family, with a wingspan of 10-13 mm.
It is present in Europe from the Scandinavian Region to Spain, in the Alps in Greece and Ireland up to Ukraine, it is also present in the eastern part of Russia and Japan *. In Italy at the moment it has been found in Friuli Venezia Giulia and in the Veronese and Mantuan areas. ***, ****

The head is brown yellow, has a central line and two white lateral lines. The abdomen is dorsally yellowish-brown. The chest is yellowish brown and has a white center line.
The front wings are yellowish brown, have a white line in the basal region. The center line is direct and extends from the base of the wing to the center of the wing.
On the front wings there is a central yellow-orange band that narrows towards the edge and is surrounded above and below by a silver-colored metal band. There are black spots and Subcostal-Subdorsal. A white spot marks the outer side of the silver binding. The hind wings are yellowish gray strongly "feathered" fringes. The abdomen is dorsally yellowish brown.

The habitat is made up of humid and marshy areas where the host plants are present.
The larvae undermine the leaves of the host plant. The mine begins as a tunnel, but soon spreads out to a large patch, sometimes covering the entire width of the leaf. The nymphosis occurs in a cocoon in the upper section of the mine. **
The head is brown yellow, has a central line and two white lateral lines. The chest is yellowish brown and has a white center line.

The larvae feed on Phragmites australis.


* Lepidoptera mundi https://lepidoptera.eu/ - Fauna Europea https://fauna-eu.org/
** Plant Parasites of Europe - https://bladmineerders.nl/
*** GORTANIA - Atti Museo Friul. di Storia Nat. 27 (2005) 5-24 Udine, 31.XII.2005 ISSN: 0391-5859 - Contribution to the knowledge of the lepidoptera of Friuli Venezia Giulia (North italy). Part I: province of Udine (Carnic alps, Carnic pre-alps, Upper Tagliamento river)
**** MEMORIE SOC. ENTOMOL. ITAL., 94 (1-2): 91-135, ISSN 0037-8747 - Paolo TRIBERTI, Giuseppe LONGO TURRI, Renzo ADAMI, Adriano ZANETTI - I Lepidotteri della “Palude del Busatello” (Verona, Mantova).