Gall and larva from Plume Moth Adaina microdactyla

[poschiavanus]

I was rather pleased to successfully find larvae of the plume moth Adaina microdactyla today. Over the winter I'd noted a few exit holes on the old flower stems of Hemp Agrimony Eupatorium cannabinum, so it occurred to me to see if I could find the larvae now.

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Quite a few plume moths feed in stems of various plants but this one causes an unobtrusive gall just below the inflorescence. The galls were not very noticeable, but after looking at a few stems I had the impression that one or two were slightly thicker. On gentle squeezing these felt harder, and cutting one with my thumbnail revealed a chamber with frass. The other larger one had a less obvious chamber, but about a centimetre below the swelling I found a larva. Unfortunately its chamber was fairly superficial and I damaged it in opening the stem. There's enough detail to show that it looks pretty comparable to the much better pictures on Bladmineerdes and UK Moths.