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Elachista utonella
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Elachistidae
Genus:	Elachista
Species:	E. utonella
Binomial name
Elachista utonella Frey, 1856
Synonyms
Biselachista utonella Elachista paludum Frey, 1859 Elachista caricis Stainton, 1859 Elachista palustrella Morris, 1870 Elachista carinisella Morris, 1870

Elachista utonella is a moth of the family Elachistidae found in Asia and Europe.

Description

The wingspan is 8–9 millimetres (0.31–0.35 in). The head is grey in the male, whitish in the female.Forewings are rather dark fuscous or ochreous-grey, pale-sprinkled,lighter in female ; plical stigma elongate, black, preceded and followed by whitish marks ; a small tornal spot, and larger triangular anteriorly dark-edged opposite costal spot white.Hindwings are dark grey.The larva is grey ; head brown ; 2 pale yellowish,with two brown spots. Dissection is necessary to separate the moth from the similar Elachista albidella and Elachista eleochariella.

There is one generation per year in Great Britain, but there are possibly two generations in continental Europe. The larvae feed on lesser pond-sedge (Carex acutiformis), Carex brizoides, distant sedge (Carex distans), brown sedge (Carex disticha), star sedge (Carex echinata), Carex elata, glaucous sedge (Carex flacca), hairy sedge (Carex hirta), Carex muricata, greater tussock-sedge (Carex paniculata), Carex remota, greater pond sedge (Carex riparia), spiked sedge (Carex spicata), bladder sedge (Carex vesicaria), fescue (Festuca species), saltmarsh rush (Juncus gerardii) and Scirus sylvaticus. They mine the leaves of their host plant.

Distribution

Elachista utonella is found from Fennoscandia to the Pyrenees and Italy and from Ireland to Romania. It is also found in the Russian Far East and Japan.

References

1. "Elachista utonella (Frey, 1856)". Microlepidoptera.nl (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 2011-05-01. Retrieved 2011-09-08.
2. Meyrick, Edward (1895). "Elachistidae". A Handbook of British Lepidoptera. London: Macmillan. pp. 638–692. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
3. Kimber, Ian. "38.045 BF629 Elachista utonella Frey, 1856". UKmoths. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
4. "Elachista utonella Frey, 1856". Bladmineerders.nl. Archived from the original on September 26, 2012. Retrieved September 8, 2011.
5. "Elachista (Elachista) utonella Frey, 1856". Fauna Europaea. Retrieved 4 April 2020.

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• Elachista
• Leaf miners
• Moths described in 1856
• Moths of Europe
• Moths of Japan
• Moths of Asia
• Taxa named by Heinrich Frey
• Elachista stubs