Ethmia pusiella

Ethmia pusiella
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Depressariidae
Genus:	Ethmia
Species:	E. pusiella
Binomial name
Ethmia pusiella (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
Numerous, see text

Ethmia pusiella is a moth of the family Depressariidae. It occurs throughout Europe and eastwards to the Tien Shan mountains of eastern Central Asia. ^[1]

Illustration from John Curtis's British Entomology Volume 6

The wingspan is 19 to 20 millimetres (0.75 to 0.79 in).

The caterpillars feed on common gromwell (Lithospermum officinale) and Pulmonaria officinalis . They have also been recorded to be myrmecophilous. ^[2]

Taxonomy and systematics

Ethmia pusiella is the type species of the proposed genera Anesychia and Melanoleuca, which are now considered junior synonyms of Ethmia . If considered separate from Ethmia, the senior synonym Anesychia must be used. ^[1]

Two subspecies are accepted nowadays: ^[1]

• Ethmia pusiella pusiella– western populations, east to Ural Mountains and Asia Minor
• Ethmia pusiella deletella– eastern populations, Central Asia and Tien Shan

In earlier times, E. candidella and E. fumidella were considered varieties of E. pusiella. ^[1]

Junior synonyms of E. pusiella are: ^[1]

• Ethmia deletellade Lattin, 1963
• Ethmia lithospermella(Hübner, 1789)
• Ethmia scalacella(Kühn, 1777)
• Phalaena (Tinea) pusiellaLinnaeus, 1758
• Tinea lithospermellaHübner, 1789
• Tinea scalacellaKühn, 1777

Footnotes

1. See references in Savela (2003)
2. Grabe (1942), and see references in Savela (2003)

References

• Grabe, Albert (1942): Eigenartige Geschmacksrichtungen bei Kleinschmetterlingsraupen ["Strange tastes among micromoth caterpillars"]. Zeitschrift des Wiener Entomologen-Vereins27: 105-109 [in German]. PDF fulltext
• Savela, Markku (2003): Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms – Ethmia. Version of 2003-DEC-29. Retrieved 2010-APR-21.