''Agonopterix assimilella'' 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 w ...

of the family Depressariidae. 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 Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. 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 of ...

is 15–21 mm. The forewings are whitish-ochreous, often mixed with deeper ochreous or brownish, strewn with dots of blackish scales; first discal stigma blackish, second whitish, but usually obsolete, sometimes preceded by a reddish mark, across which lies often an oblique dark fuscous suffusion. Hindwings are ochreous-grey-whitish. The larva is brown; dots black; head and plate of 2 black. Adults are on wing from April to June. The larvae feed on '' Cytisus scoparius''. They initially feed inside the stems, but later feed externally between two green stems sewn together in parallel. Larvae can be found from October to February. The species overwinters in the larval stage within the stem.

Biocontrol agent in New Zealand

''A. assimilella'' has been introduced to New Zealand to attempt to control the invasive to New Zealand plant '' Cytisus scoparius''. As at 2021 the success of the introduction of this species to New Zealand was uncertain.

References

Moths described in 1832 Agonopterix Moths of Europe Moths of New Zealand {{Agonopterix-stub