35.008 Aproaerema suecicella (Wolff, 1958)
Aproaerema albipalpella <<Aproaerema suecicella>> Aproaerema polychromella
Status and Distribution
Known only from a single restricted area in Cornwall. It has been searched for, without success, in other Cornish localities and at a site in Pembrokeshire where the foodplant occurs in abundance.
National Status: pRDB 1
Bradley & Fletcher no: 848a
Photographer: © R J Heckford
Location: Cornwall
Provisional map
NHMSYS0000504433
Imago
Larva
Pupa
Set Specimens
Male and female specimens are depicted on the Natural History Museum, Cockayne collection website, click on 'male', female' or 'both sexes'.
Foodplant and Larval Feeding Signs
Genista pilosa (hairy greenweed), see plant distribution map.
Spins the leaves and often mines them usually at or near the tip of a stem from May to June. Small larvae have been found in mid-July suggest possible overwintering and a long larval period.
Habitat
Rocky cliff tops in maritime grassland or heath.
Finding the Moth
Larva: feeds between spun leaves, often mining them, usually at or near the tip of a stem.
Adult: unknown.
The larval foodplant, hairy greenweed, also occurs on the Pembrokeshire coast. Initial searches of one Pembrokeshire location in mid-June 2015, where the plant is present in good numbers, did not reveal any signs of larval feeding. Searches in May should be considered.
In view of the scarcity of this moth, it is sensible that no more than a single voucher specimen is retained for identification puposes, particularly if the moth is suspected away from its single known site.
Similar Species
Its small size, at 8-9mm wingspan the smallest of the Aproaerema species, and the usual small cluster of white dots on the forewing at two-fifths should help to distinguish this species.
May, June
June, July
Single brooded from June to July.