About Paraswammerdamia albicapitella (Scharfenberg, 1805)
Paraswammerdamia albicapitella (Scharfenberg, 1805) is a moth species in the family Yponomeutidae. It occurs across most of Europe, but is absent from the western Balkan Peninsula, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Latvia. It has recently been recorded in British Columbia, Canada. This species has a wingspan of 10 to 13 mm. Adult moths are greyish, with a white head and white thorax; the thorax is sometimes sprinkled with fuscous coloring on its anterior portion. Forewings are white, and irregularly dusted with fuscous coloring. They bear several longitudinal rows of blackish dots. The antemedian dark fuscous fascia is reduced to two spots, one discal and one dorsal. On the posterior section of the costa, there are two white spots separated by a dark fuscous spot. Cilia have a coppery tinge, and feature two dark purplish-fuscous lines. Hindwings are pale fuscous. Fully grown larvae are reddish-brown, with a broad, paler dorsal line that becomes indistinct toward the posterior end. They have a broad yellowish-white spiracular line, and a pale yellow-ochreous head. Adults are active on the wing in July. The larvae feed on Prunus spinosa, and initially mine the leaves of their host plant.
