Mompha langiella

Mompha langiella

Alternative names
White-spot Mompha
Clouded Cosmet
Clouded Mompha
Description

Wingspan about10 mm. A relatively unremarkable looking member of the Momphidae, M. langiella is however quite distinctive, with its fuscous ground colour and irregular-shaped white marking at around two-thirds.  The larva mines the leaves of Enchanter's-nightshade and Great Hairy Willowherb, initially in a gallery and then a blotch.  The blotch mines are transparent and white initially, with irregular clumps of frass. The larva is pale with dark head and pronotal mark

Similar Species

Mompha terminella also mines Enchanter's Nighshade, in spiral and looped galleries.  Several species of Mompha feed on willowherbs, and the mines (and host species) are hard to identify.

Identification difficulty

Adult leaf mine on Circaea on Epilobium

Recording advice

Backlit photographs of mine; note host.  The mine is best recorded on Enchanter's Nightshade (Circaea lutetiana); on Epilobium care is needed to identify host species and examine mine and larva; breeding out may be required

Habitat

Woodland and occasionally gardens, especially where the larval food plants are present.

When to see it

August through to April.

Life History

The larva mines the leaves of Enchanter's Nightshade and willowherbs in June and July, forming a whitish blotch with scattered frass.

UK Status

Distributed locally in southern and western England and Wales, there are also scattered records from further north and in Ireland. In the Butterfly Conservation’s Microlepidoptera Report 2011 this species was classified as local.

VC55 Status

The Leicester record of 27th March 2012 is the first for VC55 (Leicestershire and Rutland).

Reference
40.011 BF880

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020

UK Map

Additional images

All NatureSpot records