Agonopterix propinquella
Agonopterix propinquella is a small moth similar to Agonopterix ocellana, but lacking the brownish red spot seen in the latter. Both belong to a genus consisting of some 25 species (at least over here in the Benelux). Agonopterix propinquella can be identified easily, for it usually has the palpae curled upwards. It is on the wing from the end of February till deep in November. The larvae lives on various plants. Larvae that have just hatched are small enough to mine a leaf, which means it lives inside a leaf. Later, getting too big to live inside a leave, it moves to the lowerside of the leaf and makes a cocoon there. From within this cocoon it will eat the underside of the leaf. The scientific name is also spelled Agonopteryx propinquella. It belongs to a family called Flat-bodied Moths (Drepresserinae). Nowadays this family is often considered to be a mere subfamily of the Concealer Moths (Oecophoridae).
NB It is not certain at all that the animal in the two bottom pictures actually is Agonopterix propinquella, for it is little marked. It could well be another Agonopterix species.
