''Scrobipalpa salinella'', the sea-aster groundling, 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 Europe, along the coast and in inland

halophytic A halophyte is a salt-tolerant plant that grows in soil or waters of high salinity, coming into contact with saline water through its roots or by salt spray, such as in saline semi-deserts, mangrove swamps, marshes and sloughs and seashores. ...

habitats. In the east, the range extends through

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part o ...

and

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the former ...

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 millio ...

. It is also found in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in t ...

. 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 . Adults have been recorded on wing from June to September.UKmoths
/ref> The larvae feed on ''

Salicornia fruticosa ''Salicornia fruticosa'', synonym ''Sarcocornia fruticosa'', is a species of glasswort in the family Amaranthaceae (pigweeds). It is native to southern Europe, north Africa, Western Asia and Yemen. It is a halophyte A halophyte is a salt-tol ...

'' (syn. ''Arthrocnemum fruticosum''), ''

Arthrocaulon macrostachyum ''Arthrocaulon macrostachyum'', synonym ''Arthrocnemum macrostachyum'', is a species of flowering plant in the amaranth family. It is native to coastal areas of the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea and parts of the Middle East, where it grows i ...

'' (syn. ''Arthrocnemum macrostachyum'') and ''

Salicornia europaea ''Salicornia europaea'', known as common glasswort or just glasswort, is a halophytic annual dicot flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae. Glasswort is a succulent herb also known as ‘Pickle weed’ or ‘ Marsh samphire’. As a succul ...

''. They

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

the leaves of their host plant.

Subspecies

*''Scrobipalpa salinella salinella'' *''Scrobipalpa salinella salicorniae'' (E. Hering, 1889) (coasts of northern Europe, Central Europe, southern Urals) ''Scrobipalpa salicorniae'' is sometimes considered a distinct species. Other authors treat ''salicorniae'' as a northern subspecies, living on ''

Salicornia ''Salicornia'' is a genus of succulent, halophytic (salt tolerant) flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae that grow in salt marshes, on beaches, and among mangroves. ''Salicornia'' species are native to North America, Europe, Central Asia, ...

'', while the southern (typical) subspecies feeds on former ''

Arthrocnemum ''Arthrocnemum'' was a genus of shrubs in the family Amaranthaceae. Two or three species were included in the genus. They are halophytes with fleshy, apparently articulated plant stems and reduced leaves and flowers. Description Species former ...

'' species.

References

Moths described in 1847 Scrobipalpa Moths of Europe {{Scrobipalpa-stub