Last modified: Dec. 3, 2023, 10:33 a.m.
A very rare and local species in the southern part of Belgium, not often recorded.
Native
Wingspan 11–13 mm. Grey-brown forewings with a diffusely lighter gray angled transverse band in the middle of the wing that widens towards the trailing edge. In the rear part of the outer field there is a weak ocellus with narrow longitudinal black lines on a brown ground with broad silver gray restrictions.
Black or yellowish brown head with black sides, pronotum black. Pale yellowish to greyish green body with inconspicuous pinacula.
Eggs are deposited in groups of 4-5 on top of the midrib of a young needle. The larva bores a tunnel in a needle through an oval opening made in the lower half of a leaf, eats its way up to the tip, then down again, finally leaving the leaf through the same opening.
A number of needles are mined in this way. The crossing is protected by spinning between the needles. After a first moult the larva begins to mine less young leaves, eventually migrating on to mine older needles as they mature and later live free among spun needles. It hibernates as a reddish-brown pupa on the ground or in leaf-litter.
Adults fly high up about their host trees from noon until dusk and later come to light.
The adults are on the wing from mid-April towards June.
The larva lives mainly on Abies alba and less on Abies grandis.
It inhabits gardens, coniferous woodland, plantations and parks.
