''Cosmopterix schmidiella'' is a
moth of the family
Cosmopterigidae. It is found from most of
Great Britain to
Romania, and from
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
through central
Russia to the
Iberian Peninsula. It is believed to be extinct in Britain.
The
wingspan is 9-9.5 mm. Adults are on wing from August to May. Then the larva hibernates outside of the mine in a
hibernaculum.
The larvae feed on ''
Lathyrus montanus
''Lathyrus linifolius'' is a species of pea, commonly called bitter vetch or heath pea. The name bitter vetch is also sometimes used for '' Vicia ervilia'' and also for '' Vicia orobus''. The tubers of ''Lathyrus linifolius'' were formerly used a ...
'', ''
Lathyrus niger'', ''
Vicia sepium
''Vicia sepium'' or bush vetch is a species of flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae.
A nitrogen-fixing, perennial, leguminous climbing plant that grows in hedgerows, grasslands, the edges of woodland, roadsides and rough grou ...
'' and ''
Vicia pisiformis
''Vicia pisiformis'' is a species of flowering plant belonging to the family Fabaceae.
Its native range is Europe to Western Siberia, and Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly ...
''. They
mine the leaves of their host plant.
Subspecies
*''Cosmopterix schmidiella schmidiella''
*''Cosmopterix schmidiella mongoliella''
Sinev, 1979 (Mongolia)
References
schmidiella
Moths of Asia
Moths of Europe
Moths described in 1856
{{Cosmopterix-stub