| Kessleria dimorpha | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Female | |
 | |
| Male | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Yponomeutidae |
| Genus: | Kessleria |
| Species: | K. dimorpha |
| Binomial name | |
| Kessleria dimorpha Huemer & Mutanen, 2015 | |
Kessleria dimorpha is a moth species of the family Yponomeutidae. It is found only on the French side of Col Agnel (Cottian Alps), close to the Italian border. The habitat consists of rocky areas on siliceous soil
France, officially the French Republic, is a sovereign state whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast, Switzerland and Italy to the east, and Andorra and Spain to the south. The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. The country's 18 integral regions span a combined area of 643,801 square kilometres (248,573 sq mi) and a total population of 67.0 million. France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Other major urban areas include Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille and Nice.
The Cottian Alps ; are a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps. They form the border between France and Italy (Piedmont). The Fréjus Road Tunnel and Fréjus Rail Tunnel between Modane and Susa are important transportation arteries between France and Italy (Turin).
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a European country consisting of a peninsula delimited by the Italian Alps and surrounded by several islands. Located in the middle of the Mediterranean sea and traversed along its length by the Apennines, Italy has a largely temperate seasonal and Mediterranean climate. The country covers an area of 301,340 km2 (116,350 sq mi) and shares open land borders with France, Slovenia, Austria, Switzerland and the enclaved microstates of Vatican City and San Marino. Italy has a territorial exclave in Switzerland (Campione) and a maritime exclave in the Tunisian Sea (Lampedusa). With around 60 million inhabitants, Italy is the fourth-most populous member state of the European Union.
The length of the forewings is 8-8.4 mm for males and about 6 mm for females. The forewings of the males are dark grey, intensively mottled with light grey, ochre-brown and whitish scales and with a white medial patch in the fold. There are black dots, particularly on the costal and subcostal veins and there is a black patch near the base and at the end of the cell, as well as an oblique blackish fascia at about one-third to halfway, reduced to a large patch in the fold. The termen is mixed dark and light grey. The hindwings are dark grey. The ground colour of the forewings of the females is whitish, mottled with dark grey and black, particularly along the fold and in the tornal part. The hindwings are grey. Adults have been recorded on wing in early August.
The larvae are thought to feed on Saxifraga cf. oppositifolia .
Saxifraga oppositifolia, the purple saxifrage or purple mountain saxifrage, is a species of edible plant that is very common all over the high Arctic and also some high mountainous areas further south, including northern Britain, the Alps and the Rocky Mountains. It is even known to grow on Kaffeklubben Island in north Greenland, at 83°N40°E, the most northerly plant locality in the world.
