Nothris verbascella, the clay groundling, is a moth of the family Gelechiidae. It was described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775. It is found in almost all of Europe, Transcaucasia, Asia Minor, the Near East and the Russian Far East.[2]

Nothris verbascella
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Gelechiidae
Genus:	Nothris
Species:	N. verbascella
Binomial name
Nothris verbascella (Denis & Schiffermüller, [1775])[1]
Synonyms
Tinea verbascella Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775 Nothris discretella Rebel, 1889 Nothris verbascella clarella Amsel, 1935

The wingspan is 17–21 mm.[3] There are two generations per year with adults on wing from May to early October.[4]

The larvae feed on Verbascum densiflorum, Verbascum phlomoides and Verbascum thapsus. The larvae live freely at the underside of the leaves of their host plant, causing window feeding. Since the dense layer of felt on the underside of the leaf is left intact, the feeding damage has the appearance of a mine.[5]

References

Wikispecies has information related to Nothris verbascella.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nothris verbascella.

• "Nothris lemniscellus (Zeller, 1839)". Insecta.pro. Retrieved December 11, 2017.