Stigmella obliquella is a moth of the family Nepticulidae which feeds on willow (Salix species) and can be found in Asia and Europe. It was first described by Hermann von Heinemann in 1862.
Description The wingspan is 4.6–6 mm.A small, dark moth. The head is covered with yellow, hair-like scales, the enlarged first antennae joint and the collar are white. The body and forewing are blackish-brown, the forewing has a cream-coloured transverse band in the middle that is narrower in the middle. The hind wing is grey. The larva is yellow. Meyrick - The head is orange, the collar yellow-white. Antennal eyecaps yellow-white. Forewings are coarse, dark brown basal to the yellowish cross fascia, apex black. Hindwings grey.Meyrick, E., 1895 A Handbook of British Lepidoptera MacMillan, Londonlepiforum.de includes imagesEmmet, A. M., 1976. Nepticulidae. — In: J. Heath (ed.). The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland 1: 171—267, pls. 1—7, 11, 12.Zagulajev, A.K., 1987 Nepticulidae (Stigmellidae); in G.S. Medvedev (ed.): Keys to the insects of the europaean part of the USSR, Vol.IV: Lepidoptera, part 1 (english translation), Oxonian Press Pvt.Ltd., New Dehli, 1987 The morphology of the genitalia must be examined for certain determination.
Adults are on wing from April to May and again in August.
Life cycle Eggs Laid on either side of a leaf of one of the smooth-leaved willows in May–June or August–September.
Larva The larva is amber-yellow with a brown head and has a faint chain of pear-shaped dark ventral spots.
The larvae feed on Salix alba, S. babylonica, Salix x sepulcralis 'Chrysocoma', Salix x fragilis, S. pentandra, S. triandra and S. viminalis.
Pupa Pupation takes place outside of the mine.
Distribution It is found in all of Europe (except the Balkan Peninsula), east to eastern Russia and China.
References Content in this edit is translated from the existing Norwegian Wikipedia article at :no:Stigmella obliquella; see its history for attribution.
External links
Stigmella obliquella at UKMoths Swedish moths Plant Parasites of Europe Stigmella obliquella images at Consortium for the Barcode of Life Nepticulidae from the Volga and Ural region