Caryocolum tricolorella (Haworth, 1812)

three-colour groundling

Gallery-like full depth mine, mainly in the base of the leaf, with irregularly scalloped sides. Frass in the oldest part of the mine in thick black grains; further on the mine does not contain frass at all. In the transition between the two parts there is a hole in the epidermis from which frass is ejected. Older larvae live free, between spun terminal shoots.

host plants

Caryophyllaceae, oligophagous

Cerastium arvense; Stellaria alsine, media, holostea.

S. holostea is the main host plant; references to S. media are doubtful (Huemer & Karsholt, 2010a).

phenology

Larvae in December – April, mining in December – January (Hering, 1957a; Bland, ao, 2002a), sometimes even as early as September (Huemer & Karsholt, 2010a).

BENELUX

BE recorded (Phegea, 2010).

NE recorded (Kuchlein & de Vos, 1999a; Microlepidoptera.nl, 2010).

LUX not recorded (Fauna Europaea, 2010).

distribution within Europe

From Fennoscandia to the Pyrenees, Alps, and Romania, and from Ireland to Central Russia and the Ukraine (Fauna Europaea, 2010).

larva

Young, mining larvae green (Hering, 1957a). Older larvae dull whitish green with five dull pink length lines. Head and prothoracic plate black; pinacula small, black (Bland ao, 2002a).

pupa

See Patočka & Turčáni (2005a).

synonyms

Gnorimoschema, Lita, tricolorella.

references

Bland, Corley, Emmet ao (2002a), Buhr (1937a), Corley, Merckx, Cardoso ao (2012a), Elsner, Huemer & Tokár (1999a), Hering (1957a), Huemer (1988b), Huemer & Karsholt (2010a), Kaitila (1996a), Klimesch (1954a), Kuchlein & Donner (1993a), Kuchlein & de Vos (1999a), Patočka & Turčáni (2005a), de Prins (1998a), Robbins (1991a), Schütze (1931a), Skala (1950a), Sønderup (1949a), Szőcs (1977a).