Mesapamea maderensis Pinker, 1971

Host plants:
The larvae live within the blades of grasses. The two most important species should be Festuca donax (several observations in and around the laurel forests) and Holcus sp. (observations in the highlands). But there succeeded so far no observation on Brachypodium sylvaticum.

Habitat:
Mesapamea maderensis inhabits the laurel forests, heaths and higher mountain slopes from about 300m to at least 1600m asl according to own larval observations.

Life cycle:
The larva is supposed to develop from autumn to spring. I observed them in March 2013. The adults are on the wing probably in a single generation in summer. The larvae reveal themselves as usual through drilling holes and dying tip leaves. They become larger than those of the Canarian Mesapamea pinkeri and have shorter hairs.

Remarks:
Mesapamea maderensis is endemic to Madeira.