Limnaecia phragmitella Stainton, 1851
Shy Cosmet Moth
 COSMOPTERIGINAE,   COSMOPTERIGIDAE,   GELECHIOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley


(Photo: courtesy of Katarina Christenson, Melba, Australian Capital Territory)

The Caterpillars of this species have been found feeding on, living in, and pupating in the flowers, stems and seed heads of Bulrushes (TYPHACEAE) including

  • Broadleaf Cattail (Typha latifolia).

    The adult moths have brown forewings, each with a variety of dark marks, some forming a vague streak down the middle, some forming a border around the margin. The hindwings look like pale versions of the forewings.


    (Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

    The species has been found in

  • Europe and North America,
  • New Zealand,
  • South Korea,

    as well as Australia in

  • Australian Capital Territory,
  • Victoria, and
  • Tasmania,

    Further reading :

    A.S. Boot,
    An additional pupation site of Limnaecia phragmitella Stainton (Lep.: Cosmopterigidae),
    The Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation,
    Vol. 103 (1991) pp. 329-330.

    B. Goodey,
    Limnaecia phragmitella in the stems of Bulrush,
    The Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation,
    Vol. 103 (1991) p. 330.

    Henry Tibbats Stainton,
    Supplementary Catalogue of the British Tineidę and Pterophoridę,
    (1851), p. 4.

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    (written 16 May 2026, updated 20 May 2026)