Parectopa ononidis is a moth

Moth

A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...

 of the Gracillariidae

Gracillariidae

Gracillariidae is an important family of insects in the order Lepidoptera and the principal family of leaf miners that includes several economic, horticultural or recently invasive pest species such as the horse-chestnut leaf miner, Cameraria ohridella....

 family. It is known from all of Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, except Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 and the Balkan Peninsula.
The wingspan

Wingspan

The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...

 is about 8 mm. Adults are on wing from May to August in two to three generations per year.

The larva

Larva

A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...

e feed on Ononis repens

Ononis repens

Ononis repens or Common Restharrow is a plant species of the genus Ononis. It is found by the shore and is also common in dry hill pastures in chalk or limestone areas. It is a prostrate woody perennial with small oval leaves. The leaves are covered in glandular hairs which give a resinous smell on...

, Ononis spinosa

Ononis spinosa

Ononis spinosa is a plant belonging to the family Fabaceae, that is commonly known as spiny restharrow or just restharrow. It is found throughout much of Europe but seldom as far north as Scotland.-External links:*...

, Trifolium medium

Trifolium medium

Trifolium medium or Zigzag Clover is a plant species of the genus Trifolium.* quattrofolium...

, Trifolium montanum

Trifolium montanum

Trifolium montanum is a plant species of the genus Trifolium. It is the county flower of Oslo, Norway.-References:*...

, Trifolium ochroleucum, Trifolium pratense and Trifolium repens. They mine

Leaf miner

Leaf miner is a term used to describe the larvae of many different species of insect which live in and eat the leaf tissue of plants. The vast majority of leaf-mining insects are moths , sawflies and flies , though some beetles and wasps also exhibit this behavior.Like Woodboring beetles, leaf...

 the leaves of their host plant. The mine starts as a small, lower-surface epidermal corridor. Only after the first moult the larva starts feeding on the leaf parenchyma, resulting in a corridor overlying the midrib. From here branches enter the leaf disk, gradually widening and merging, leaving almost the entire mine mined out in the end. Most frass

Frass

Frass is the fine powdery material phytophagous insects pass as waste after digesting plant parts. It causes plants to excrete chitinase due to high chitin levels, it is a natural bloom stimulant, and has high nutrient levels. Frass is known to have abundant amoeba, beneficial bacteria, and fungi...

is ejected. The larva may leave the mine and start elsewhere. Pupation takes place within the mine.