Scrobipalpa freyii | Gelechiid Recording Scheme

Status and Distribution

Scrobipalpa pauperella renamed S. freyii in Beavan & Heckford, 2024 (see paper under S. freyii in Publications - Published Papers).

Rare. Recorded at a few well scattered chalk and limestone sites in England.

First discovered in Britain in 1858 in the Middlesborough area. Not reported again until 1972 and 1973 at Chippenham Fen NNR, Cambridgeshire, but not subsequently found at this site. Attracted to light in mid-West Yorkshire (VC64) from 2011 onwards. The number of moths found over subsequent years proved the moth to be resident at this site, but several searches for larvae have drawn a blank.

In July 2018 a photograph seen on the Dissection Group website of the male genitalia of Scrobipalpa obsoletella from Ashridge Estate, Bucks (VC24) on 18th June 2013 was found to refer to S. pauperella. This location was revisited (in 2023) where larvae were found and bred on Centaurea nigra and C. debeauxii.

On 24 August 2022, a considerable number of tenanted mines were found on Centaurea scabiosa (greater knapweed) leaves in Dover, Kent, with subsequent breeding confirming them to be S. freyii.

A specimen (confirmed by dissection) was found at the Yorkshire site on the 10th August 2025, possibly indicative of a small second brood.

Also in 2025, larvae were found in two separate areas of County Durham utilising both C. nigra and C. scabiosa.

There is similarity between the variable forewing markings of both S. acuminatella and S. freyii. It would therefore be worth closer examination of light trapped or netted specimens of S. acuminatella found in chalky areas.

National Status: Unknown

Bradley & Fletcher no: 814a

Photographer: © W Langdon

Location: Buckinghamshire

Provisional map

NBNSYS0000005366

Imago

Larva

Pupa

Set Specimens

Male genitalia

Dissection Group

Male genitalia

Foodplant and Larval Feeding Signs

Centaurea scabiosa (greater knapweed) in Britain.

The larva intially makes a short narrow mine along the midrib of the leaf on the upperside, often then forming a diverticulum beside a vein, with black frass extruded from the end of the mine along the midrib. The mine is gradually widened either side of the midrib, eventually forming blotches, within which frass is deposited. The outer edges of the affected leaves often turn slightly upwards.

In Europe, as well as being associated with C. scabiosa, other species of Asteraceae (Compositae), such as Cirsium palustre (marsh thistle), Cirsium helenioides, Petatsites albus (white butterbur) and Serratula (saw-wort) are also utilised. It mines along the midrib of the leaves in Cirsium palustre.

Larvae on Cirsium palustre collected during searches for this species at Chippenham Fen produced only Scrobipalpa acuminatella and no Centaurea scabiosa was found anywhere near the 1972/3 capture site. Similarly in Yorkshire, C. scabiosa is absent from this site, while Cirsium palustre is locally common. Tenanted mines on the latter plant here have only produced Scrobipalpa acuminatella.

In 2022, many larvae were found in Kent on C. scabiosa, with some bred, and in Buckinghamshire in 2023 larvae (some subsequently bred) were found on C. nigra (s.l.). Due to difficulties in the separation of C. nigra (common knapweed) from C. debeauxii (chalk knapweed) the plants utilised may relate to either of these species or intermediate hybrids.

Habitat

The habitat at the Cambridgeshire site is fenland, while the Yorkshire site is an area of mature mixed woodland with large open clearings of herb rich magnesian grassland containing several small ponds. The moths in Yorkshire were light trapped near one of the wetter parts of the site. In Kent, the site comprises open, coastal chalk cliffs where it utilises greater knapweed plants with few leaves.

Finding the Moth

Larva: fenland areas in Cambridgeshire where the possible larval foodplant, marsh thistle, occurs would be worth further investigation. Checks at the Yorkshire have failed to turn up any signs of larval feeding so far. Those found in Kent favoured plants with less luxuriant growth and only a few leaves, many of the leaves used growing fairly close to the chalk substrate.

Adult: in Europe the moth has been noted flying about marsh thistle.

Similar Species

The British specimens found and bred to date closely resemble Scrobipalpa acuminatella and always require dissection for confirmation. In Europe, the forewing colour of S. freyii varies from nearly fuscous to more or less orange brown depending on the ammount of orange scales. If S. freyii is suspected, retention and dissection of a voucher specimen from the original or any new site is considered essential.

July, August

June

Single-brooded, from late May to early July. In Central Europe it is bivoltine with records from April to early June and again in July and August. One potential second brood individual was found in Yorkshire in August 2025.

35.110 Scrobipalpa freyii (Scott, 1859)