Last modified: Oct. 26, 2023, 4:03 p.m.
A very rare and local species in Belgium, not often recorded. Can be easily confused with Acrobasis consociella.
Native
Acrobasis sodalella generally seems to be somewhat larger and more vividly colored and marked than the very similar Acrobasis consociella.
The caterpillar can be easily distinguished from A. consociella. The head and neck-shield are strongly spotted with black (in A. consociella the head and neck-shield are yellowish, the neck-shield much less spotted, on the head only 1-2 blackish spots in front on each half). Abdomen with sharp dark longitudinal lines. The caterpillars live in groups in relatively large, tightly woven nests, each in its own twisted tube.
The newborn larvae erode the back of leaves, the second-instar and third-instar larvae overwinters under cover formed with a good quantity of silky threads and leaves.
The last-instar larvae live in a web nests between the leaves made up of more eroded leaves bound together by silky threads within which the larvae live in web tunnels and crawl out from these to feed on the foliage. Also found together in the terminal shoot.
The adults are on the wing from end of May towards mid-August.
The species prefers sandy soils.
