Gelechiidae

35.115 Coast Orache Miner Scrobipalpa nitentella (Fuchs, 1902)

Notable B

Similar species:

Forewing: 5.5 to 7mm

Habitats: Salt-marsh and coastal strand-line.

Habits: The moth can be disturbed from its foodplants. It comes to light.

Foodplant: The small larva mines a short horse-shoe shaped to spiralling gallery, followed by a branching blotch mine on Fat Hen, other goosefoots or Annual Sea-blite. In the last instars the larva feeds in a silk tube amongst the seed pods feeding on the unripe seeds or between two leaves spun flat together. It pupates in a cocoon spun with silk, sand and debris. Other recorded foodplants include Common Orache, Grass-leaved Orache, Spear-leaved Orache, Sea-purslane, Sea Beet and Perrenial Glasswort. On the European mainland it is also recorded as feeding on Common Glasswort, Pedunculate Sea-purslane and Garden Orache. .