About Recurvaria leucatella (Clerck, 1759)
Recurvaria leucatella, commonly known as the lesser budmoth or white-barred groundling moth, is a moth species belonging to the family Gelechiidae. It is distributed across most of Europe, Turkey, Central Asia, and the Caucasus. This species has a wingspan of 14–15 mm. Its head is ochreous-white. The forewings are dark fuscous, with a broad white or ochreous-white fascia located at one-third of the wing length. The stigmata and a dot below the second discal are indistinctly blackish and somewhat raised. There is a white spot on the tornus, and another matching white spot on the opposite costa. Some terminal scales of the forewings are white. The hindwings are grey. The larvae range in color from light brown to whitish-green, with more or less pronounced rosy tinging; their head and the plate of the second body segment are black. Adult moths are active on the wing from June to July, with timing varying by location. The larvae feed on species of the Crataegus and Malus genera.
