In 1984 Antonio Vives Moreno described the new species P. gozmaniella from Andalucia, but in 1987 Vives reviewed the family Pterolonchidae in Spain, synonymising P. gozmaniella with P. lutescentella and P. gracilis with P. inspersa, describing a new species, and counting five species in the genus Pterolonche. He subdivided the genus in three subgenera. He did not address the species described by Hans Georg Amsel from respectively Malta and Iraq a few decades earlier.[1]
In 2011 it was classified as one of two genera in the family Pterolonchidae in the superfamilyGelechioidea by van Nieukerken et al..[3]
In 2014 a cladistics analysis performed by Heikkilä et al.. expanded the family to seven genera. They classified the genus in the subfamily Pterolonchinae.[4]
The species are all nocturnal. Both sexes are attracted to artificial lights at night. In Spain the moths have two generations per year, with the first emerging from the end of march to the beginning of June, and a second, much more abundant generation between July and the start of October. They have been encountered from sea level to 1500m in altitude in Spain.[1]
P. inspersa caterpillars feed on Centaurea species, a herbaceous, thistle-like plant. They tunnel into the root crown of their host plant and feed on the root tissue. As they reach the root cortex, they spin a silken tube and feed from within the tube. Mature larvae overwinter in the roots. In spring, a silken tube is made above the soil surface in which pupation takes place.[7]
^"Pterolonche inspersa Staudinger, 1859". Fauna Europaea. Fauna Europaea Secretariat, Museum für Naturkunde Leibniz & Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung. Archived from the original on October 15, 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
^ ab"Pterolonche Zeller, 1847". Fauna Europaea. Fauna Europaea Secretariat, Museum für Naturkunde Leibniz & Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung. Archived from the original on October 15, 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
