Status
Morley’s Final Catalogue: Not listed.
Recent Status: A species first recorded in Suffolk during the 2010s. Larval mines in Enchanter's nightshade are easier to find than the adults.
Life Style: The moth is single brooded flying during June and July. The larvae mine leaves of Circaea lutetiana. They pupate in a cocoon on the ground where they pass the winter.
Identification: The moth is a small species of Mompha that is predominantly bright orange with white and silvery grey markings. There is a blackish mark at the apex and one at the base that is almost completely surrounded by silvery grey. The head and thorax are metallic. The palps are light ochre. The moth is similar to M. locupletella (yet to be recorded in Suffolk) but that species is larger at 9 to 12mm wingspan, M. terminella is 7 to 9 mm and the palps of M. locupletella are dark shining grey.
The larval mine is similar to that of M. langiella in that it is white and a hybrid between a broad gallery and blotch and the larvae will move to restart on the leaf or another leaf. However the initial mine of M. terminella has the frass arranged spirally where-as it is dispersed for M. langiella. http://www.leafmines.co.uk/html/Lepidoptera/M.terminella.htmRecorded in 6 (10%) of 58 10k Squares.
First Recorded in 2012.
Last Recorded in 2018. |