Food Plant: Quercus spp., (Oaks), Castanea sativa (Sweet Chestnut)

Egg: laid on the underside ofleaves

Mine: June-Sept

Notes: Initially forms a long gallery in the epidermis of the underside of a leaf, which then leads to a blotch. The leaf arches and the larva eats through to the upper epidermis. It then makes a small fold at the leaf edge and subsequently makes a cone at the tip of a tender leaf. At least two such cones are formed. It pupates under a greenish silk membrane on the underside of a leaf. The moth was bred from the above leaf mine and emerged in July 2016. A rare leaf miner which is found in oak woodland, particularly on young trees and especially in the West and North of the UK. Formerly Caloptilia leucapennella.

National Status: Nationally Scarce B

Bradley No: 292

Data: 11.vii.2016, Glen Loy, Westness, VC97, Scotland

Image:© Stewart Wright.