Stathmopodidae

42.002 Alder Signaller Stathmopoda pedella (Linnaeus, 1761)

Notable B

Similar species:

Forewing: 5 to 6.5mm

Habitats: River-banks.

Habits: The moth can sometimes be found on Alder trunks during the day or by beating the lower branches. It occasionally comes to light.

Foodplant: The larva feeds on the seeds inside the ripening fruit of Alder and Grey Alder. There is little sign of its presence other than a small hole and a few grains of orange frass between the scales, although some fruit eventually become slightly discoloured. The spindle-shaped larva is pale purple-brown and lighter between segments. The head and shallowly divided prothoracic plates are dark brown. It pupates in a flimsy debris covered cocoon in the leaf litter.