Stemmatophora brunnealis

• Subfamily: Pyralinae, Pyralini
• Wingspan: 21-23 mm
• Flight period: Aug - Sep
• Spread: Common
• Host plants: Epilobium, Helianthemum, Glonularia

Information

The Stemmatophora brunnealis is a moth of the Pyralidae family, with a wingspan of 21-2 mm.
In Europe it is widespread in Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and Ukraine . *
Its range extends to North Africa.
In Italy it is also present in the islands. *

The front wings of Stemmatophora brunnealis are light brown in color, with two darker longitudinal lines (the second with a sinusoidal trend), which cross the disc region, bordering the basal one, and the post-discal region.
A dark spot is present in the radial area near the costa. The costa is brown in color, with almost white light spots, up to the intersection with the second of the longitudinal lines, and then continue with the background color of the wing.

The rear wing is white / gray with a silky appearance. The edges of all wings are fringed.
The palps are clear, head and thorax are in the background color of the front wings while the abdomen, lighter, recalls that of the hind wings. **

This species is univoltine, and adults can be encountered from early August to September and it is in this period that it is occasionally attracted to artificial light.
As a habitat it prefers open and dry environments.

The larva is deep black in color, with dark brown head, prothoracic and anal plates and legs. ***
The pupa is reddish brown. ***

The Stemmatophora brunnealis larva feeds on the roots of Epilobium, Helianthemum and Glonularia spp.


* Lepidoptera mundi https://lepidoptera.eu/ - Fauna Europea https://fauna-eu.org/
** Bestimmungshilfe für die in Europa nachgewiesenen Schmetterlingsarten - http://lepiforum.de/ -
*** Plant Parasites of Europe leafminers, galls and fungi - https://bladmineerders.nl/