Scrobipalpa nitentella

Scrobipalpa nitentella, the common sea groundling, is a moth of the family Gelechiidae. It is found in most of Europe, North Africa (Tunisia), Turkey, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, China (Qinghai, Xinjiang),^[2] Mongolia and Siberia (Transbaikalia).^[3]

Scrobipalpa nitentella
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Gelechiidae
Genus:	Scrobipalpa
Species:	S. nitentella
Binomial name
Scrobipalpa nitentella (Fuchs, 1902)[1]
Synonyms
Lita nitentella Fuchs, 1902 Gnorimoschema nitentellum Phthorimaea seminella Pierce & Metcalfe, 1935 Phthorimaea seminella f. spinosa Gaede, 1937

The wingspan is 12–15 mm (0.47–0.59 in). A pale species difficult to very difficult to differentiate from other Scorobipalpa either from wing pattern or dissected genitalia. ^[4][5][6]

Adults are on wing from July to August in one generation per year.^[7]

The larvae feed on Atriplex hastata, Atriplex hortensis, Atriplex littoralis, Atriplex praecox, Atriplex prostrate, Beta maritima, Chenopodium album, Halimione pedunculata, Halimione portulacoides, Salicornia europaea, Suaeda altissima and Suaeda maritima. Young larvae mine the leaves of their host plant.^[8] Full-grown larvae can be found from mid-August to the end of September.