35.008 Aproaerema suecicella (Wolff, 1958)

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

Foodplant and Larval Feeding Signs

Aproaerema suecicella feeding signs (Photo: © R J Heckford)

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.