Incurvariidae

08.004 Strawberry Cutter Incurvaria praelatella ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775)

Local

Similar species:

Forewing: 5.5 to 7mm

Habitats: Deciduous woodland, heathland and downland.

Habits: The moth flies in sunshine. It occasionally comes to light.

Foodplant: The larva forms a leaf mine at the tip of a leaf of Wild Strawberry or Water Avens and occasionally Tormentil and other plants in the rose family. Later a 2mm fiddle shaped case is cut from the mine. On strawberry it continues feeding on a withered part of the same leaf which it has cut away and spun to the underside of the rest of the leaf. On Water Avens it feeds on the underside of the lower leaves from the ground. Its feeding under the leaves is not completed until late April when it pupates in its case.