Gelechiidae

35.126 Potato Tuber Moth Phthorimaea operculella (Zeller, 1873)

Immigrant / Adventive

Similar species:

Forewing: 6.5 to 7mm

Habitats: Arable fields, potato stores and greenhouses in Europe.

Habits: The moth comes to light.

Foodplant: The early stages have not been recorded in Britain, apart from a larva imported on a Tomato from the Canary Islands. On the European mainland it is recorded as feeding on Potato, Tomato, Tobacco and Aubergine, peppers and other plants in the solanum family. It mines irregular shaped clear blotches on the leaves. It later bores the stems and the tubers if they are exposed. It pupates on or close to a tuber or fruit. It is a serious pest.