''Metzneria aestivella'' is a

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

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 Taxonomic rank, superfamily Gelechioidea, and the family's taxonomy (biology), taxonomy ...

. It is found in most of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, except

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. The habitat consists of dry, sunny areas with low-growing herbaceous plants. The

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

is 11–15 mm. Adults are similar to ''

Metzneria lappella ''Metzneria lappella'', the burdock seedhead moth or burdock seed moth, is a moth of the family Gelechiidae. Distribution This species is present in most of Europe and it is widely distributed throughout the Palaearctic region, northwards to the ...

'' and '' Metzneria metzneriella'' . Adults are on wing from June to July. Larvae can be found in winter and spring in old flowers of '' Carlina vulgaris'', '' Pyrethrum corymbosum'' and '' Carlina acaulis''. Full-grown larvae reach a length of 8–9 mm.microlepidoptera.nl

Subspecies

*''Metzneria aestivella aestivella'' *''Metzneria aestivella dichroa'' Walsingham, 1908 (Canary Islands)

References

Moths described in 1839 Metzneria Moths of Europe Insects of Turkey {{Anomologinae-stub