Cosmopterix pulchrimella
Pellitory Beauty

Wingspan 9 mm.

A population of this species has recently been discovered in Guernsey, Channel Islands. Elsewhere, the species is known to occur in southern Europe.

The larvae mine the leaves of pellitory (Parietaria). The adults are tiny but very attractive with their mixture of metallic silver, orange, black and white markings.

Several species are very similar however, so care must be taken over the identification.