Elachista albidella Nylander, 1848
[Lepidoptera: Elachistidae]


Elachista albidella Nylander, 1848.


Leaf-mine: Corridor, 15 cm in the end, descending from the leaf tip. The mine is whitish and shallow at first, then becomes deeper, yellowish wihte, and more transparent. Pupation external; pupa, not in a cocoon, attached to the leaf (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Larva: Light green to grey green, with a shining greyish-black head and a grey brown thoracic plate that, according to Hering (1957a), has a dull grey mark shaped like a a horse shoe (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Pupa: Details unknown.

Adult: Not illustrated in UKMoths (check for update). The male genitalia, but not the female genitalia (check for update), are illustrated by the Lepidoptera Dissection Group.

Hosts in Britain:

Cyperaceae      
Carex acuta Slender Tufted-sedge Pitkin and Plant (as Biselachista albidella)
Carex riparia Greater Pond-sedge Pitkin and Plant (as Biselachista albidella)
Eleocharis palustris Common Spike-rush Pitkin and Plant (as Biselachista albidella)
Eriophorum angustifolium Common Cottongrass Pitkin and Plant (as Biselachista albidella)

Hosts elsewhere:

Cyperaceae      
Carex acuta Slender Tufted-sedge Bladmineerders van Europa
Carex acutiformis Lesser Pond-sedge Bladmineerders van Europa
Carex riparia Greater Pond-sedge Bladmineerders van Europa
Eleocharis palustris Common Spike-rush Bladmineerders van Europa
Eriophorum angustifolium Common Cottongrass Bladmineerders van Europa
Scirpus cespitosus   Bladmineerders van Europa
Poaceae      
Calamagrostis arundinacea   Bladmineerders van Europa
Deschampsia cespitosa Tufted Hair-grass Bladmineerders van Europa
Deschampsia flexuosa Wavy Hair-grass Bladmineerders van Europa
Melica nutans Mountain Melick Bladmineerders van Europa
Poa palustris Swamp Meadow-grass Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - larvae: April-May (Bland, 1996a).

Time of year - adults: Unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Britain and Northern Ireland (Karsholt and van Nieukerken in Fauna Europaea) including Anglesey, Caernarvonshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Denbighshire, Derbyshire, East Norfolk, East Suffolk, Easterness, North Aberdeen, North Ebudes, South Aberdeen, South Wiltshire, Stafford, Westmorland and Worcestershire (NBN Gateway, as Biselachista albidella - N.B. includes Watsonian Vice Counties having publicly available records that fall within or overlap the vice county border at 10km resolution or better i.e. a record for a vice county may relate to an adjacent vice county - for included datasets see NBN Grid map below).

Also recorded in the Republic of Ireland (Karsholt and van Nieukerken in Fauna Europaea).

NBN Grid map: Note that not all datasets on the NBN Gateway may be available on the map below. If you are an NBN Gateway registered user you can request access for missing datasets via the link 'Open interactive map in new window' below.

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Russia - North and Northwest, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Ukraine (Karsholt and van Nieukerken in Fauna Europaea).

NBN interactive distribution map(s) of known host species in Great Britain and Ireland and elsewhere:

Carex acuta, Carex acutiformis, Carex riparia, Deschampsia cespitosa, Deschampsia flexuosa, Eleocharis palustris, Eriophorum angustifolium, Melica nutans, Poa palustris

Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere: Unknown.



External links: Search the internet:
Belgian Lepidoptera
Biodiversity Heritage Library
Bladmineerders van Europa
British leafminers
Encyclopedia of Life
Fauna Europaea
NBN Gateway, as Biselachista albidella
UKMoths
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Last updated 29-Jan-2012  Brian Pitkin Top of page