Last modified: Dec. 4, 2024, 4 p.m.
A very rare but widespread species in Belgium, more observed in the northern part.
Native
Wingspan 10–13 mm. A fuscous colored moth, greyer towards the base and darker, becoming black terminally. There is variable orange ochre shading towards the termen. An irregular white dorsal blotch is dark marked. The short pale costal strigulae subtend plumbeous fasciae that also edge the ocellus which is marked with a few black dashes.
Hindwings dark grey-brown, slightly paler at the base; cilia brownish gray, basal streak darker.
Whitish-green larva with a black head, the neck plate is whitish-green at the front and black at the back.
The larva lives in the spun leaf shoots on the host plant to form a shelter within which it lives in a chamber constructed of silk and withered leaf fragments Pupation in a cocoon under bark, in the soil or between leaves.
The adults can be seen resting on sallow leaves in the afternoons and later come sparsely to light.
The adults have been mainly observed from mid-July towards September.
The larva lives on Salix caprea, Salix aurita, Salix repens, Salix viminalis and Salix purpurea. Narrow-leaved willows seem to play a minor role.
It inhabits woodland, fens, marshes, banks of streams, wet places etc...