Gelechiidae

35.076 Cottongrass Borer Monochroa suffusella (Douglas, 1850)

pRDB3

Similar species:

Forewing: 4.5 to 6mm

Habitats: Marshes, fens and lowland raised bogs.

Habits: The moth can be disturbed from the foodplant during the day. It flies on sunny evenings and later comes to light.

Foodplant: In the autumn the larva mines the stem and bottom of a leaf of Common Cottongrass. It then overwinters in the mine. In the spring it mines a narrow winding gallery upwards from the base of the leaf, causing the leaf to redden. As it progresses the mine widens to the full leaf width. It pupates in the leaf litter or occasionally in the mine. Moths have been recorded in fenland where cottongrass is not present, so there is probably another foodplant.