Gracillariidae

15.0201 Echium Stilt Dialectica scalariella (Zeller, 1850)

pRDB1

Similar species: Worn specimens could be mistaken for the Diamond-back Moth Plutella xylostella, but these lack the short white striations on the distal leading edge of the forewing.

Forewing: 3.5 to 4mm

Habitats: Arid land where the foodplants grow, such as shingle beaches and dry wasteground.

Habits:

Foodplant: Larvae mine the underside of the younger central leaves of Viper's Bugloss. The mine soon opens out to form a blotch often on one side of the midrib. There may be several mines on a leaf and these may be on both sides of the midrib. The mature larva forms a spinning in the blotch in which it later pupates. There may be little or no evidence of the mines on the surface of the leaf as the larvae usually only eat the undersurface.

On the European mainland the larvae have been recorded from a variety of other plants in the family Borginaceae. These are mostly buglosses Echium spp. or hound's tongues Cynoglossum spp., but more rarely on Common Comfrey, Borage and Alpine Forget-me-not.