Gelechiidae

35.0205 Vagrant Snout Dichomeris acuminatus (Staudinger, 1876)

Immigrant

Similar species:

Forewing: 5 to 7mm

Habitats: Coastal sites in southern Britain (as an immigrant), otherwise grasslands. It has a worldwide distribution from the Far East and Australia to the Americas including Hawaii.

Habits: The moth was first recorded in Britain in September 2016 in Dorset and since in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. It comes to light.

Foodplant: On the European mainland the larva feeds in the spun shoots of Lucerne or Bastard Lucerne, Red Clover or White Clover. Elsewhere it feeds on Pigeon Pea, Hoary Pea and several other species of peas and beans. It pupates between two leaves spun very lightly together, in a rolled leaf or in the larval habitation.