Scrobipalpula tussilaginis (Stainton, 1867)

colt’s-foot groundling

Tussilago farfara, Belgium; © Jean-Yves Baugnée

Tussilago farfara, Belgium, prov. Namur, Maizeret © Jean-Yves Baugnée

mine, lighted from behind

larva

mine

Initially a branching corridor, later more an elongate upper-surface blotch from the leaf base tot the leaf margin, finally occupying a good part of the leaf. Most frass is deposited in one section of the mine, forming a crust below which the very agile larvae can retreat. Pupation external, at the underside of the leaf or in the litter.

host plants

Asteraceae,narrowly oligophagous

Petasites albus, hybridus; Tussilago farfara.

phenology

Larvae in August – September (Hering, 1957a), but two generations occur in Britain, in July and October – November (Pelham-Clinton, 1989a; Bland ao, 2002a).

BENELUX

BE recorded by Jean-Yves Baugnée (De Prins ao).

NE recorded (Huisman & Koster, 1998a; Microlepidoptera.nl, 2009).

LUX not recorded (Fauna Europaea, 2009).

distribution within Europe

From Britain to the Pyrenees, Italy, Greece, and the Ukraïne (Fauna Europaea, 2009).

larva

Apple green; head and prothoracic plate dark brown; full-grown larva with rose-red segment limits (Pelham-Clinton, 1989a).

synonyms

Gnorimoschema tussilaginellum; Lita, Scrobipalpa tussilaginella (von Heinemann, 1870).

notes

Preference for small leaves, just above the ground, of plants growing on bare sand or clay (Bland ao, 2002a).

references

Baran (2013a), Bland, Corley, Emmet ao (2002a), Elsner, Huemer & Tokár (1999a), Hering (1957a), Huemer & Karsholt (1998a, 2010a), Huisman & Koster (1998a), Klimesch (1950c, 1958a), Kuchlein & de Vos (1999a), Leutsch (2011a), Maček (1999a), Pelham-Clinton (1989a), De Prins, Steeman & Sierens (2016a), Pröse (1997a), Skala (1951a), Skala (1950a), Skala & Zavřel (1945a), Szőcs (1977a), Wieser & Huemer (1999a).