Elachistidae

38.015 Yellow-barred Grass-miner Elachista gangabella Zeller, 1850

Local

Similar species:

Forewing: 4.5 to 5mm

Habitats: Shady woodland.

Habits:

Foodplant: The larva forms a brownish mine in a leaf of False-brome, Cock's-foot Grass or Soft Brome. It mines down a leaf in a conspicuous, irregular-sided gallery with a tubular area of silk and frass in the middle where it shelters. There may be several larvae in what is eventually a full depth and full width mine. The larva is olive-green with a dark brown head and prothoracic plate. In November the full-fed larva overwinters, pupating in April on a leaf, on a stem or in the leaf litter, attached by a girdle of silk.