Caryocolum marmorea

Caryocolum marmorea is a moth of the family Gelechiidae. It is found from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean islands, and from Ireland to Poland, Hungary and Greece. It is also found on the Canary Islands and Madeira.[2] It is also found in North America.[3]

A sprig of Cerastium vulgatum with sand-tubes formed by larva

A sprig of Stellaria holostea exhibiting a capsule attacked by larva

Larva

Caryocolum marmorea
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Gelechiidae
Genus:	Caryocolum
Species:	C. marmorea
Binomial name
Caryocolum marmorea (Haworth, 1828)
Synonyms
Recurvaria marmorea Haworth, 1828 Caryocolum marmoreum Gelechia manniella Zeller, 1839[1] Gelechia pulchra Wollaston, 1858

The wingspan is about 11 mm. The head is light grey, face whitish. Terminal joint of palpi shorter than second. Forewings are ochreous- brown, costa mixed with dark fuscous and sometimes whitish, dorsum broadly paler and sometimes whitish mixed, connected with two pale or sometimes whitish spots before and beyond anterior stigmata, tornus and termen blackish-mixed; a blackish discal spot towards base; stigmata blackish, usually suffused and indistinct; a straight whitish interrupted fascia at 4/5. Hindwings 1, pale grey, darker terminally. The larva is yellowish-grey - green; dorsal and subdorsal lines dull reddish; head and plate of 2 black[4]

Adults are on wing from May to August.[5]

The larvae feed on Cerastium fontanum, Cerastium semidecandrum, Silene nocteolens and Silene otites. They mine the leaves of their host plant. In Cerastium, young larvae make an irregular, semitransparent, upper-surface corridor, usually running from the leaf tip to the base along the midrib or the leaf margin. The oldest part of the mine is filled with greenish brown frass. After mining the leaf, the larva bores into the stem. Older larvae live freely, feeding on the leaves from a silken tube or between spun leaves.[6] Larvae can be found from January to February. They are greenish yellow with three dirty green dorsal length lines and a black head.