''Mesophleps silacella'', the straw crest, 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. It is found in Europe,

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

and

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. 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 9–17 mm. The forewings are pale yellow, the distal half of the costa with brown and sometimes with a black edge. Adults have been recorded on the wing in June. The larvae feed on ''

Helianthemum ''Helianthemum'' , known as rock rose, sunrose, rushrose, or frostweed,' ...

'' species (including '' Helianthemum nummularium'' and '' Helianthemum tuberosum'') and ''

Fumana procumbens ''Fumana'' (needle sunrose) is a small genus of flowering plants in the family Cistaceae. They are small perennial shrubs with five-lobed yellow flowers, native to rocky and sandy soils of Europe and wider Mediterranean region. ''Fumana'' shrubs ...

''., 2012: A taxonomic revision of the genus ''Mesophleps'' Hübner, 1825 (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae). ''Zootaxa'' 3373: 1-82. The larvae have been described as pale reddish with a honey yellow head. They have been recorded in April, May, June and August.

References

Moths described in 1796 Mesophleps Moths of Europe Moths of Réunion Moths of Africa {{Anacampsini-stub