Parafomoria halimivora Van Nieukerken, 1985

van Nieukerken, Erik J., Laštůvka, Aleš & Laštůvka, Zdenĕk, 2006, The Nepticulidae and Opostegidae of mainland France and Corsica: an annotated catalogue (Lepidoptera: Nepticuloidea), Zootaxa 1216 (1216), pp. 1-114 : 75

Parafomoria halimivora Van Nieukerken, 1985 —First record for France

Misidentifications: F: Nepticula helianthemella ; Brown & Gouin 1917: 406— 33

Stigmella helianthemella ; Lhomme [1963]: 1188 — 33

Remarks. Brown & Gouin (1917) recorded vacated mines (‘plusieurs mines vides’) on Helianthemum alyssoide , a plant now known as Halimium lasianthum subsp. alyssoides (Lam.) Greuter. Parafomoria helianthemella is known only from a number of Helianthemum spp. , whereas P. halimivora feeds on a number of closely related Halimium species , and has with certainty been reared from H. halimifolium (L.) Willk., H. atriplicifolium (Lam.) Spach and H. ocymoides (Lam.) Willk. (van Nieukerken 1985a, van Nieukerken in prep.). The junior authors collected adults of this species in stands of Halimium lasianthum subsp. alyssoides in Portugal, and no other species has yet been recorded on this host. Hence the French mines most likely also belong to P. halimivora . Halimium lasianthum subsp. alyssoides occurs within a restricted area in France, being relatively common in Pinus forests in the Southwest (Les Landes), and with a few scattered occurrences in central France and the Cévennes ( Dupont 1990).