Tortricidae

49.275 Lettuce Tortrix Eucosma conterminana (Guenée, 1845)

Local

Similar species:

Forewing: 7 to 9mm

Habitats: Chalk grassland, wasteground, quarries, road verges and gardens.

Habits: The moth is easily disturbed during the day, flies in the evening and later comes to light.

Foodplant: The larva at first lives in the flower-heads of Bitter Lettuce, Prickly Lettuce or cultivated Lettuce. It later mines into the ovaries of the seed-heads feeding on the developing seeds. In September the full-fed larva constructs a cocoon in the earth or the leaf litter, where it overwinters until it pupates in May.