1193 Eucosma tripoliana
(Barrett, 1880)
Wingspan 13 - 17 mmE. tripoliana flies in the late afternoon and night in July-August. It has been recorded in south and east England, South Wales, and from Flintshire to north Lancashire, on saltings where its foodplant, sea-aster (Aster tripolium), occurs.
E. catoptrana also feeds on sea-aster, but it is larger (wingspan 16 mm - 20 mm) and greyish tawny with very indistinct markings. Occasionally a specimen of E. tripoliana has its markings, apart from the silvery strigulae and ocellus, obscured by a light yellowish suffusion.
The larva feeds from late August to October in flowers of sea-aster, often betraying its presence with frass on the flower head. It overwinters on the ground as a larva in a silk hibernaculum coated with detritus, and must be able to survive being covered by high tides.
Show detail