Stephensia brunnichella

Description

Stephensia brunnichella is a moth of the family Elachistidae. It is widespread throughout Europe. In the north, the distribution extends up to southern Sweden and Finland and in the east it ranges as far as Asia Minor and the Crimea. The wingspan is 8–9 mm. The larvae feed on Calamintha nepeta, Clinopodium vulgare and Satureja calamintha. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine starts as a long, narrow, full depth gallery running toward the leaf tip. The frass is found in a narrow central line. After reaching the leaf tip, the mine becomes a large, full depth, brown blotch. Here, the frass is deposited in black lumps. The larvae may vacate the mine and start elsewhere. Larvae of the first generation hibernate in the mine. Pupation takes place outside of the mine, in a white spinning, mostly between the leaves of the host plant. The larvae have a greenish body with a black head. They can be found from autumn to April and again in July.