''Caryocolum leucomelanella'' is a

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

Gelechiidae The Gelechiidae are a family of moths commonly referred to as twirler moths or gelechiid moths. They are the namesake family of the huge and little-studied superfamily Gelechioidea, and the family's taxonomy has been subject to considerable d ...

. It is found in most 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

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

, the

Benelux The Benelux Union ( nl, Benelux Unie; french: Union Benelux; lb, Benelux-Unioun), also known as simply Benelux, is a Political union, politico-economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighboring states in ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

Fennoscandia __NOTOC__ Fennoscandia ( Finnish, Swedish and no, Fennoskandia, nocat=1; russian: Фенноскандия, Fennoskandiya) or the Fennoscandian Peninsula is the geographical peninsula in Europe, which includes the Scandinavian and Kola penins ...

and the

Baltic region The terms Baltic Sea Region, Baltic Rim countries (or simply the Baltic Rim), and the Baltic Sea countries/states refer to slightly different combinations of countries in the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea, mainly in Northern Europe. ...

. It is also found in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

(the Ural Mountains and Siberia: Altai, Transbaikalia and Tuva). The length of the forewings is 3.5–5 mm for males and 4-5.5 mm for females. The larvae feed on '' Petrorhagia saxifraga'', '' Dianthus carthusianorum'', ''

Dianthus sylvestris ''Dianthus sylvestris'', the wood pink, is a species of '' Dianthus'' found in Europe, particularly in the Alps, and also said to be disjunctly found in the mountains of Greece. A perennial, it prefers to grow in drier, stony places, so it is ...

'' and possibly '' Dianthus gratianopolitanus'' and ''

Dianthus seguieri Dianthus seguieri, common name Seguier's pink, is a herbaceous perennial plant of the genus ''Dianthus'' of the family Caryophyllaceae. Etymology The genus name ''Dianthus'' derives from the Greek words ''Dios'' (meaning "from Zeus") and ''anthos ...

''. Pupation takes place in a cocoon on the ground at the end of April. Larvae can be found from the beginning of May to June.

References

Moths described in 1839 leucomelanella Moths of Europe Moths of Asia {{Caryocolum-stub