Elachistidae

38.031 Surrey Grass-miner Elachista nobilella Zeller, 1839

pRDB3

Similar species:

Forewing: 3 to 4mm

Habitats: Open woodland rides and clearings.

Habits: An overlooked resident to Britain added to the British list in 2004.

Foodplant: The larva mines a leaf of Wavy Hair-grass. It makes a descending broad, flat mine from near the leaf tip which is whitish with a narrow line of frass down the centre. The larva is a creamy yellow with a pale brown head and a brown divided prothoracic plate. It pupates attached by a silk girdle, probably in the leaf litter.

On the European mainland it has also been recorded feeding on Creeping Bent, False Oat-grass, Cock's-foot, Creeping Soft-grass, bromes, fescues, sedges and Hairy Wood-rush.