Species Cosmopterix pulchrimella - Hodges#1472

1472

'Beautiful Cosmo'

Cosmopterix pulchrimella Chambers, 1875

Cosmopteryx [sic] pulchrimella Chambers, 1875

Cosmopteryx parietariae Hering, 1931

pulch, -r is Latin for beautiful (1)

FWL: 3.0-4.0 mm. (2) (3)

Defined by the bluish-white line above each eye, by the pro- and mesothorax having a medial bluish-white line and lacking lateral lines, by the medial lines near the base of the forewing being short with the anteromedial line more basad than the posteromedial line and by the distal part of the antenna with the color combination of 2.5 brown segments preceded by 1.5 white segments, five brown segments, one white segment, one brown segment, two segments white with brown, and then brown segments. The transverse fascia on the forewing varies from pale orange to darker gray orange, and it may be dusted with brown scales on the posterior half (2). For a more complete description and figures, see here.

Genitalia:

Holarctic. Nearctic region: USA: From Massachusetts and southern Wyoming south to southern Florida and southern Arizona (Hodges, 1978 (2)), Michigan, New Mexico. Canada. Palaearctic region: Mediterranean area, from Portugal to western Transcaucasus, north to Switzerland Hungary; Azores, Canary Islands and Madeira (Koster & Sinev, 2003). Recently found in southern England (Parsons, 2002) (3).

Multiple-brooded. Occurs year-round in Florida. (2) Based off of BugGuide data, it appears to have three generations elsewhere.

The larvae mine the leaves of Pennsylvania pellitory (Parietaria pensylvanica) and Canada clearweed (Pilea pumila). (2)

Mine in a leaf, starting as an irregular gallery usually at the midrib, soon leading to an irregular blotch. Inside the mine a silken spinning, this often causes contortion of the leaf. It constructs a silk-lined gallery, which serves as a shelter when the larva is not feeding. Frass partly inside the mine, but most of it is rejected through a hole at the beginning of the mine. The black pellets of frass on the underside of a leaf indicates the presence of a larva. New mines are made very often. Cocoon inside the mine. (3)

Moth Photographers Group (MPG) (4)

The Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) (5)