''Agonopterix arenella'' is a species of

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of ...

of the family Depressariidae. It is found in all of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

, except the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

Agonopterix arenella a leaf of Centaurea nigra folded by larva

The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan ...

is 19–23 mm. The forewings are whitish ochreous, more or less suffused with fuscous and sprinkled with dark fuscous; costa spotted with dark fuscous; first discal stigma and a dot obliquely before and above it black; second indistinct, dark fuscous; a dark fuscous spot between and above these; dark fuscous terminal dots. Hindwings are pale whitish-fuscous. The larva is green, paler laterally; dorsal and subdorsal lines dark green; dots blackish; head light brownish-ochreous; 2 with two blackish spots. The larvae feed on ''

Arctium lappa ''Arctium lappa'', commonly called greater burdock, , edible burdock, lappa, beggar's buttons, thorny burr, or happy major is a Eurasian species of plants in the family Asteraceae, cultivated in gardens for its root used as a vegetable. It has b ...

'', ''

Carduus ''Carduus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, and the tribe Cardueae, one of two genera considered to be true thistles, the other being ''Cirsium''. Plants of the genus are known commonly as plumeless thistles.

'', ''

Carlina ''Carlina'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. It is distributed from Madeira and the Canary Islands across Europe and northern Africa to Siberia and northwestern China.Kovanda, M. (2002)Observations on ''Carlina bieberstein ...

'', ''

Centaurea jacea ''Centaurea jacea'', brown knapweed or brownray knapweed, is a species of herbaceous perennial plants in the genus ''Centaurea'' native to dry meadows and open woodland throughout Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally conside ...

'', ''

Centaurea nigra ''Centaurea nigra'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names lesser knapweed, common knapweed and black knapweed. A local vernacular name is hardheads. It is native to Europe but it is known on other ...

'', ''

Centaurea scabiosa ''Centaurea scabiosa'', or greater knapweed, is a perennial plant of the genus ''Centaurea''. It is native to Europe and bears purple flower heads. Greater knapweed is found growing in dry grasslands, hedgerows and cliffs on lime-rich soil. Upri ...

'', ''

Cirsium vulgare ''Cirsium vulgare'', the spear thistle, bull thistle, or common thistle, is a species of the Asteraceae genus ''Cirsium'', native throughout most of Europe (north to 66°N, locally 68°N), Western Asia (east to the Yenisei Valley), and northwes ...

'', '' Knautia'', '' Serratula tinctoria'' and ''

Sonchus ''Sonchus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the tribe Cichorieae within the family Asteraceae and are commonly known as sow thistles (less commonly hare thistles or hare lettuces). Sowthistles are annual, biennial or perennial herbs, with or ...

''. They mine the leaves of their host plant. Larvae can be found from May to early August.

References

External links

Agonopterix arenella at UKmoths
Moths described in 1775 Agonopterix Moths of Europe {{Agonopterix-stub