''Trifurcula alypella'' is a moth of the family Nepticulidae. It is found in mainland Spain,

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

and France. The habitat consists of warm limestone areas. The wingspan is 4.75–5 mm. The larvae feed on ''

Globularia alypum ''Globularia'' is a genus of about 22 species of flowering plants in the family Plantaginaceae, native to central and southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwest Africa and southwest Asia. They are dense low evergreen mat-forming perennials or sub ...

''. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine starts as an inconspicuous whitish corridor with yellow brown

frass Frass refers loosely to the more or less solid excreta of insects, and to certain other related matter. Definition and etymology ''Frass'' is an informal term and accordingly it is variously used and variously defined. It is derived from the G ...

. Then the corridor follows the leaf margin in a somewhat wavy pattern. In this stage, there is a black frass line that varies in width but never takes the full width of the corridor. In the end, the corridor switches from upper-surface to lower-surface or vice versa. The exit slit is usually upper-surface. Recognisable mines are generally found in larger leaves. Small leaves are completely and unrecognisably mined out.

External links

Über neue mediterrane und kanarische Nepticuliden (Lep., Nepticulidae). - Mitteilungen der Münchner Entomologischen Gesellschaft
Nepticulidae Moths of Europe Moths described in 1975 {{Trifurcula-stub