''Nemophora metallica'' 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

Adelidae The Adelidae or fairy longhorn moths are a family of monotrysian moths in the lepidopteran infraorder Heteroneura. The family was first described by Charles Théophile Bruand d'Uzelle in 1851. Most species have at least partially metallic patter ...

. It is found in Europe. Its

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 15–20 mm. The moth flies from late June to August depending on the location. The larvae feed on ''

Knautia arvensis ''Knautia arvensis'', commonly known as field scabious, is a herbaceous perennial species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae. Description It is a perennial plant that grows between . It prefers grassy places and dry ...

'' and ''

Scabiosa columbaria ''Scabiosa columbaria'', called the small scabious or dwarf pincushion flower, is a widespread species of flowering plant in the genus ''Scabiosa'', native to Europe, Africa, and western Asia, from Sweden to Angola. In the garden it is a short-li ...

''.

Gallery

File:Nemophora metallica ill.JPG File:Nemophora_metallica_larva.JPG, Larva File:Nemophora metallica scabious head, with larva case attached.JPG, Scabious head, with larva case attached File:Nemophora metallica empty seed husk, used by the young larva as its first case.JPG, Empty seed husk, used by the young larva as its first case File:Nemophora metallica larval case.JPG, Larval case File:Nemophora metallica BE-MK-7-327a.jpg

External links

waarneming.nl

Nemophora metallica at UKmoths
Adelidae Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Taxa named by Nikolaus Poda von Neuhaus Moths described in 1759 {{Adelidae-stub