''Agonopterix nanatella'' 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 ...

, except

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

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, 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. ...

and most of the

Balkan Peninsula The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

. 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 15–19 mm. The forewings are pale whitish ochreous, brownish-tinged and strewn with brown strigulae , costa marked with spots of darker strigulae; first and sometimes second discal stigmata dark fuscous; sometimes a suffused fuscous spot between and above these. Hindwings grey, darker posteriorly. The larva is yellow-green; dots grey; dorsal line darker; head and plate of 2 black Adults are on wing from July to August. The larvae of ssp. ''nanatella'' feed on ''

Carlina vulgaris ''Carlina vulgaris'', the carline thistle, is a plant species of the genus '' Carlina''. It is a biennial that grows on limestone, chalky or other alkaline grasslands or dunes. The flowers are clusters of very small brown florets surrounded by br ...

''. They initially

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. The mine has the form of a blotch mine. Older larvae vacate their mines and continues feeding from within a rolled leaf. The larvae of ssp. ''aridella'' feed on '' Cirsium'' species. They may also create a blotch mine, which is full depth and little contracted. It is mostly limited to the leaf tip. Not all larvae mine though, some live freely on the leaves of their host. Pupation takes place outside of the mine.ssp. ''aridella'' at bladmineerders.nl
/ref> Larvae can be found from April to May (''aridella'') or June (''nanatella''). They are pale yellowish green with a black head.

Subspecies

*''Agonopterix nanatella nanatella'' *''Agonopterix nanatella aridella'' Mann, 1869 (southern Europe)

References

Moths described in 1849 Agonopterix Moths of Europe Taxa named by Henry Tibbats Stainton {{Agonopterix-stub