Elachistidae

38.049 Southern Grass-miner Elachista stabilella Stainton, 1858

Notable B

Similar species:

Forewing: 3.5 to 4mm

Habitats: Woodland clearings and rides, heathland, grassy slopes and other places where the foodplants are found.

Habits:

Foodplant: The larva mines the leaves of Tall Fescue, Tufted Hair-grass, Tor-grass or bents. It makes a long, narrow, yellowish gallery mine descending from the leaf tip to the stem. There may be three or four larvae per mine. The larva is yellowish with a brown head and a pale brown divided prothoracic plate. It pupates on a dead leaf in the leaf litter or under a stone in an oval cocoon under a dense web.

On the European mainland it has also been recorded feeding on False-brome, Tufted Hair-grass, Wild Oat, Wood Millet, Broad-leaved Meadow-grass and small-reed.