Trifurcula headleyella (#578)

Not a great photo, but this small moth, also called the Self-heal Pygmy, from the Nepticulinae family appears to be relatively unusual, so worth a post. Looking at UK Moths (https://ukmoths.org.uk/) and other web sites, this species is one of many similar looking small black & white moths, but with a broken white bar, black head with a white eye and black patch towards its rear, of the species pictured, it seems identifiable. This individual was hiding up in a rowan sapling in the garden, but normally the species is associated with chalk meadows in the South of England, where its larvae are leaf miners of Self-heal (Prunella vulgaris). On one hand the habitat may not be right, but the species is found in Gloucestershire, and (as my veg patch will attest) Self-heal quickly covers any bare patch of ground around here, so the moth’s food-plant is present in quantities.