Elachistidae

38.045 Bog Sedge-miner Elachista utonella Frey, 1856

Notable B

Similar species:

Forewing: 4 to 4.5mm

Habitats: Bogs and acid heathland.

Habits: The moth can be swept from the foodplants.

Foodplant: The larva mines a leaf of Lesser Pond-sedge, Greater Tussock-sedge, Bladder Sedge or other sedges. It makes a short gallery mine from mid-leaf towards the tip of a blade. It widens while doubling back towards the start, eventually taking up about half the leaf width. The mine is pale yellow-green with most of the green-grey frass in the earlier part of the mine. The larva is yellow-green to grey, with a dark brown head and a light brown prothoracic plate. The larva pupates in the angle at the base of a leaf attached by a silk girdle.

On the European mainland it has also been recorded feeding on Brown Sedge, Greater Pond-sedge, Distant Sedge, Star Sedge, Tufted-sedge, Glaucous Sedge, Hairy Sedge, Large-fruited Prickly-sedge, Remote Sedge, Spiked Sedge, Wood Club-rush and Saltmarsh Rush.