Food Plant: Acer pseudoplatanus (Sycamore), Acer platanoides (Norway Maple)Elsewhere: Acer monspessulanum (Montpellier maple)

Egg: on the underside of a leaf

Mine: late Summer

Notes: This species initially makes an irregular, half-depth, silvery blotch on the upperside of the leaf, often with many diverticula. It then forms cones in the lobes of the leaf in a similar manner to Caloptilia rufipennella. This enables separation from Caloptilia rufipennella as, in this species, the initial blotch is whitish to brown and lower surface and in the angle between veins. First discovered in the UK in 2019 in Folkestone (Harper & Roberts, 2019). After initially mining the surface of the leaf, larvae make cones in the lobes. This larva on Acer pseudoplatanus (which was reared and dissected to confirm the identification) made the two cones visible here before pupating.

Data: 22.ix.2022, Dungeness, Kent, VC15

Image:© Will Langdon