Author: (Peyerimhoff, 1863)
Species Overview:
Adult: 11-13 mm wingspan; forewing of male with costal fold; ground colour cream suffused with reddish-brown, strigulated with grey and ferruginous. Markings dark brown; inner margin of median fascia poorly defined; dorsal part of ocellar area edged with silver. Conspicuous pale blotches of ground colour at dorsum. Apical spot reddish-brown, edged with whitish. Hindwing brownish-grey.
Pupa: 4-5 mm long; reddish-brown, antennae greenish. Frons with triangular process; spines on abdominal segment 2 slightly smaller than those on abdominal segment 3; spines near anterior margin clearly bigger than those near posterior margin on abdominal segments 3-7; dorsal spines on anal segment of about the same size as those on 8th and 9th abdominal segments, and lateral spines clearly bigger than dorsal spines; anal segment with 1 pair of setae dorsally and no setae ventrally; without clear ventral rim. Spun up in a silken cocoon amongst leaf litter on the ground [details pupa E. pusillana ].
Taxonomic Description:
Male:
Epinotia pusillana adult 1
Epinotia pusillana adult 2
External characters: 11-13 mm wingspan. Forewing with costal fold; ground colour cream suffused with reddish-brown, strigulated with grey and ferruginous. Basal and subbasal fascia brown strigulated with blackish; subbasal fascia angulate. Comparatively conspicuous blotches of ground colour at dorsum between basal and subbasal fascia, and between subbasal fascia and median fascia. Median fascia narrow, its inner edge poorly defined, confluent with pre-tornal marking. Costal striae blackish; dorsal part of ocellar area edged with silver. Subterminal marking dark brown; apical spot reddish-brown, edged with the whitish ground colour. Cilia brownish, with a blackish sub-basal line. Hindwing brownish-grey; cilia paler with a poorly defined sub-basal line (Peyerimhoff, 1863; Kennel, 1908-1921).
male genitalia E. pusillana
Genitalia: Bifurcate terminals at apex of uncus pointed; socii narrow, digitate in apical half and with pointed apex. Ventral margin of valva with shallow notch.
Female:
External characters: Forewing without costal fold; ground colour more greyish.
female genitalia E. pusillana
Genitalia: Ovipositor short; lamella postvaginalis broad, posterior edge concave; antrum fairly short; cingulum situated slightly posterior to middle of ductus bursae, ductus seminalis originating here; corpus bursae with two long signa.
Biology:
Moths fly during June and July in Germany; during July and August in Poland. Larvae occur from late summer till spring, mining and spinning the needles of the host plant and overwintering in spun needles. Pupation occurs in a silken cocoon amongst leaf litter on the ground.
Host plants:
Abies alba
Damage:
Larvae are found mining the needles of Abies alba, but are generally of no economic importance.
Distribution:
Central Europe: from France to Poland and Finland.
Pheromone:
Pheromone unknown.