Cosmopterigidae

34.011 Guernsey Beauty Pyroderces argyrogrammos (Zeller, 1847)

Adventive

Similar species:

Forewing: 5.5 to 8mm

Habitats: Downland and dry grassland.

Habits: It has been recorded once on Guernsey in May 2002. It comes to light.

Foodplant: The early stages have not been recorded in Britain. On the European mainland the larva lives in the flower-heads, feeding on the developing seeds of Carline Thistle, other thistles and knapweeds. It overwinters in the heads and pupates there in the spring in a flimsy cocoon. There are two to three generations in a year.