Tineidae

12.047 Hart's-tongue Moth Psychoides verhuella Bruand, 1854

Local

Similar species:

Forewing: 4.5 to 5.5mm

Habitats: Gardens, damp woodland and hedgebanks or wherever its fern foodplants are found.

Habits: The moth sometimes flies in the day and occasionally comes to light.

Foodplant: The larva mines a frond or midrib of Hart's-tongue Fern, Rustyback Fern and other spleenworts or Soft Shield Fern. It then feeds on the sori within the sporangia with which it constructs its case. It pupates under a separate mass of sporangia usually attached to the midrib.