''Gelechia sororculella'', the dark-striped 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 w ...

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 dis ...

. It is widely distributed from Europe, throughout

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 of ...

to the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admini ...

Life cycle and description

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 15–17 mm. The terminal joint of palpi is almost as long as second. Forewings rather dark fuscous, more or less whitish-sprinkled, paler dorsally, between veins blackish mixed; a white dot in disc at 1/4 ; stigmata black, first discal conspicuously white-ringed, other two partly white-edged, first and second discal connected by a blackish streak ; a blackish interrupted streak along fold ; a fine whitish angulated fascia at 3/4 ; terminal blackish dots, partly whitish-edged. Hind wings are over 1, grey.The larva is whitish green; dorsal and lateral lines broad, brown ; head brown. Adults are on wing from July to August in one generation per year.

Ova

Eggs are laid on willows (''Salix'' species), usually goat willow ( ''S. caprea'') but also eared willow ( ''S. aurita''), grey willow ( ''S. cinerea''), purple willow ( ''S. purpurea''), creeping willow ( ''S.repens'') and osier ( ''S. viminalis'').

Larva

Larvae feed from within spinnings made among the leaves and sometimes in female catkins. Larvae can be found in May.

Pupa

The pale brown pupa can be found in May and June in a spinning among leaves.

References

External links

UKmoths
Gelechia Moths described in 1817 Moths of Asia Moths of Europe Taxa named by Jacob Hübner {{Gelechia-stub