Eudonia delunella

• Subfamily: Scopariinae
• Wingspan: 17-18 mm
• Flight period: Jun - Sep
• Spread: Common
• Host plants: Mosses

Information

The Eudonia delunella is a moth of the Crambidae family, Scopariinae subfamily, with a 17-18 mm wingspan.
In Europe we find it in Portugal, Spain, Ireland, United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Germany, Benelux, Denmark, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Greece. In Italy it is present in Sardinia but not in Sicily. *

The front wings show a certain variability in the coloring in fact the color varies from dirty white to brown / dark gray with light / dark streaks and spots. A white line is visible in the basal region.
In the dark forms a white sign in the shape of "X" is clearly visible between the Sub-terminal and post-discal region; while the two external lines of this "X" end on the margin, the lower inner sign divides in two near the inner margin, forming an angle of just over 90 °.
The upper internal sign instead ends on the costa going to delimit a large dark quadrangular spot, one of the two spots that represent a distinctive character of this species, useful for identification.

The hind wings are whitish, translucent, with brown dusting, more intense in prossimity of the edge. All wings are fringed in white with brown undertones.
The palps are white on the top, dark on the side. The head is whitish, the thorax greyish, while the abdomen is silky white with darker shades.

These moths can be found in different wooded areas that are not at all localized but well distributed over large areas. The adults of Eudonia delunella were observed from early July to late August, they are active from dusk onwards and are attracted to artificial light and sugar. **

The larva feeds on mosses and lichens that grow on tree trunks of Malus (apple), Fraxinus (ash) and sometimes on Ulmus (elm). Also reported on mosses growing on rocks and walls such as Orthotricum and Hypnum. **


* Lepidoptera mundi https://lepidoptera.eu/ - Fauna Europea https://fauna-eu.org/
** Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Belgium - https://projects.biodiversity.be/lepidoptera/species/6330/