Blastobasis cfr. glandulella

• Subfamily:
• Wingspan: 15-25 mm
• Flight period: Apr - Sep
• Spread: Uncommon
• Host plants: Quercus - Castanea

Information

The Blastobasis glandulella is a moth of the Blastobasidae family with a wingspan of 12 - 14 mm. It is found in Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Croatia *.
Its range extends to Canada and the United States (California).***
In Italy it is absent from the islands. *

Adults have gray to greyish-brown front wings with a diffuse light line delimited distally by a dark band. There is also a black midpoint and two black reniform points, which form a triangle. The terminal line is made up of dark dots. The hind wings are a glossy gray with dark veins and a fringe of long hair-like scales.

I am in flight from April to September.
It is a little described species for the wildlife of the Microlepidoptera. It is possible to confuse it with Blastobasis physidella (Zeller, 1839), which presents a different "dress", both for its color and for its designs. The habitats where it has been found are different and range from meadows to uncultivated, to wetlands of forest environments, locally also in areas with sandstone banks and where limestone outcrops are present, even if it is found mainly in sandy environments.

According to current knowledge, the distribution of Blastobasis glandulella extends south or south-east Europe. It is regularly observed in Austria, Italy, Croatia, Hungary, the Czech Republic and in 2007 in Germany in the sandy area near Mannheim north of Baden. **

The larva is yellowish white with a brown head and prothoracic shield.
The chrysalis is light brown. ***

The larvae feed on Quercus and Castanea inside the fruits (chestnuts and acorns). **, ****


* Lepidoptera mundi https://lepidoptera.eu/ - Fauna Europea https://fauna-eu.org/
** Bestimmungshilfe für die in Europa nachgewiesenen Schmetterlingsarten - http://lepiforum.de/
*** Identification, Images, & Information For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin For the United States & Canada - https://bugguide.net/node/view/15439
**** Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa - https://www.leps.it/