Tortricidae

49.288 White-foot Moth Epiblema foenella (Linnaeus, 1758)

Common

Similar species:

Forewing: 8 to 12mm

Habitats: Wasteground, woodland rides, marshland, road verges, river-banks and sea-cliffs.

Habits: The moth flies around the foodplant from late afternoon until sunset. It later comes to light.

Foodplant: The larva feeds in the rootstock of Mugwort, tunnelling upwards and eating the pith in the stem and side shoots. When full-fed the larva forms a shelter a few centimetres from the base of the stem where it bores an exit hole, but leaving a cover of bark. It widens the chamber by tunnelling the stem wall and lining it with silk, The larva then overwinters and pupates in late May. Many of the inhabited and now weakened stems break off just above the larval chamber, indicating the larvas presence.