Species Elachista brachyelytrifoliella - Hodges#1132

1132

Elachista brachyelytrifoliella Clemens, 1860

Wingspan: 5.5-7.5 mm (1)

Adult: The basal third of the FW is gray, shading to dark blackish brown outwardly. A white line follows the costal margin from near the base of the costa, diverging from the costa as a short streak ending just within the dark brown portion of the wing. There is a pair of silvery white spots just beyond the middle. HW dark brownish gray. (1)

Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia

Adults have been recorded on wing nearly year round. (1)

Larvae feed on Brachyelytrum erectum (Schreb.). They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine starts as a fine linear gallery, often following the margin of the leaf. It later becomes an elongate blotch. Sometimes a second mine is made. Records of other host plants attributed to brachyelytrifoliellain the literature apply to related species. (1)(2)

Mining larvae can be found from early July to October. Pupation takes place in a crevice beneath two layers of silk. (1)