Momphidae

40.011 White-spot Mompha Mompha langiella (Hübner, 1796)

Local

Similar species:

Forewing: 4.5 to 5mm

Habitats: Open woodland and shady sites where the foodplants grow.

Habits: The moth occasionally comes to light.

Foodplant: The larva mines the leaves of Enchanters Nightshade or Great Willowherb and occasionally Broad-leaved Willowherb, Hoary Willowherb or Rosebay Willowherb. The first pale gallery mine contains blotches and zig-zags, with an irregular line of frass along it. The second mine which may be on the same leaf or a fresh one, starts as a gallery with an irregular line of frass, but soon becomes a series of blotches and dispersed frass. The gregarious larvae may eventually mine a whole leaf, the mine changing from white to brown. The larva is pale yellow with a light brown head and darker mouthparts, a dark brown divided prothoracic plate and light brown thoracic legs and anal plate. In August it pupates in a yellow-white cocoon, attached to a leaf, in the leaf litter or less often in the mine.