''Stenolechia gemmella'' (black-dotted 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. It is known from most of Europe 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 10–11 mm. The head is white. Forewings are whitish, somewhat sprinkled with brownish; a spot on costa near base and another at 1/3, an inwardly oblique fascia beyond middle, somewhat interrupted near costa, a spot on base of dorsum, and another at tornus black; some black scales towards apex; vein 4 absent. Hindwings are light grey. The larva is whitish; spots pale grey; head and plate of 2 yellow-brown, latter grey-speckled. Adults are on wing from July to September, and is known for its habit of resting in crevices in bark. The larvae feed on ''

Quercus An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably '' ...

'' species. They feed in the young shoots. They cause withered leaves and occasionally swellings. Pupation normally takes place in the shoot, but occasionally outside.

References

Moths described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Stenolechia Moths of Europe Insects of Turkey {{Litini-stub