Hantsmoths

Local in woodland, orchards, gardens and parks throughout south-eastern England, north to Lincolnshire, and in central Wales. Probably under-recorded in Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight, where the extent of known records correlate with those areas in which the recording effort is concentrated. Wingspan 4.2-5.3 mm. More likely to be recorded in the larval stage; the imago closely resembles E. subbimaculella but has the crown of the head darker, the spot at the base of the forewing larger, all the spots and the cilia whiter and the hindwings paler, nevertheless it is difficult to differentiate the two species with certainty without examination of the genitalia (MBGBI Vol 1). Larva mines leaves of Oak, often in fallen leaves, over-wintering as a pupa.