Elachistidae

38.046 Cottongrass Sedge-miner Elachista albidella Nylander, [1848]

Local

Similar species:

Forewing: 4.5 to 5mm

Habitats: Bogs and acid heathland.

Habits: The moth occasionally comes to light.

Foodplant: The larva mines the leaves of Common Cotton-grass, Common Spike-rush, Deergrass, Greater Pond-sedge, Slender Tufted-sedge and probably other sedges. The larva forms a whitish, shallow mine that deepens and becomes yellow-grey as it descends from the leaf tip. When Deergrass is the host it mines down the stem starting at the flowers. The slender larva is up to 10mm long, pale green to grey-green with a grey-black head and grey-brown prothoracic plate. It pupates on a leaf or stem held by a girdle of silk.

On the European mainland it has also been recorded feeding on Lesser Pond-sedge, Tufted Hair-grass, Wavy Hair-grass, Mountain Melick and Swamp Meadow-grass.