Micropterix aureatella
Micropterix aureatella is a moth of the family Micropterigidae found in the Palearctic realm, except for North Africa.
Taxonomy
The moth was first described from a specimen found in Carniola, present-day Slovenia, by the Austrian physician and naturalist Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in 1763. He named it Phalaena aureatella. Phalaena – a word used by Aristotle, meaning the rest of the moths; or possibly a devouring monster or whale, which may be derived from the destructive properties of clothes moths; or possibly from phallus an association by the Greeks of lepidoptera and semen which was supposed to attract moths; or paros i.e. a light and the attraction of moths to lights. The moth was later put in the genus Micropterix, which was raised by Jacob Hübner and the name comes from the small size of the adult; Mikros – ″little″ and pterux – ″a wing″. The specific name aureatella – golden from aureatus, referring to the three submetallic markings on the forewing.Subspecies
Micropterix aureatella aureatellaMicropterix aureatella junctella Weber, 1945Micropterix aureatella shikotanica Kozlov, 1988Description
The wingspan is. The head is light ferruginous in colour, the forewings shining bronzy-purple with a straight fascia towards base, a rather oblique somewhat bent median fascia, and a spot towards costa posteriorly pale shining golden. Hindwings bronzy-grey, posteriorly purplish-tinged. The adults have working mandibles and feed on the pollen of a variety of flowers, especially those of sedges.;Larva
A single larva has been found amongst fungal hyphae in mixed beech, bilberry and oak leaf litter. The larvae are believed to feed on bilberry.
;Pupa
The pupa is unknown.