Oak

Eriocraniidae (May to July)
Blotch mine, usually starting from leaf edge, frass black, long inter-twining threads [5-7]		Eriocrania subpurpurella 6
Nepticulidae
Ectoedemia (blotch mines)
1	Mine on Evergreen Oak (Quercus ilex), highly contorted, November to April. Pupa in a cocoon on upper surface of leaf [11-4]	Ectoedemia heringella 36a
	Larva mining the green bark of small branches [9?-6]	Ectoedemia atrifrontella 41
	Mine forming a slender gallery terminating in a blotch	2
2	Larva mines in green leaves from late August till early October; the early gallery generally follows a vein outwards from the midrib; larval head very pale brown [8-9]	Ectoedemia albifasciella 37
	Larva mines in 'green islands', often in fallen leaves in late October - November; the early gallery generally follows a vein inwards towards the midrib, or follows the midrib	3
3	Blotch with a slit in the lower leaf epidermis, allowing some of the frass to fall out; larva head dark brown [10-11]	Ectoedemia subbimaculella 38
	Blotch without a slit in the epidermis; larva head red-brown [10-11]	Ectoedemia heringi 39
	Gallery highly contorted, occupying a small area, forming a false blotch; larva with dark ventral spots, feeding in a 'green island' often in fallen leaves in November [10-11]	Ectoedemia quinquella 36
Stigmella (gallery mines)
1	Egg on underside	2
	Egg on upperside usually away from margin	2
	Egg on upperside near margin, frass black [6-7+9-10]	Stigmella ruficapitella 84
2	Mine sinuous in regular curves, filled with coiled greenish frass difficult to see when fresh (frass turns brown with age); larvae green [6-7+9-10]	Stigmella basiguttella 89
	Mine irregular; frass leaving clear margins, blackish; larvae yellow	3
3	Frass dispersed in separated grains in middle part of course	4
	Frass forming a more or less continuous central line	5
4	Egg laid beside a vein; early course of mine leading away from vein more or less at right angles; mine the largest of the oak feeding Stigmella's univoltine, [7-8	Stigmella svenssoni 87
	Egg anywhere on leaf; early course variable; mine about the same size as that of Stigmella ruficapitella, frass more or less dispersed until last quarter of mine when it forms a thin central line; bivoltine, [6-7+9-10]	Stigmella samiatella 88
5	Mine relatively short and broad; frass in a thick central line [6-7+9-11]	Stigmella atricapitella 83
	Mine narrower, the smallest in oak; frass forming a fine central line [6-7+10-11]	Stigmella roborella 86
	N.B. In the autumn all Stigmella mines are difficult to determine with the exception of S. basiguttella. Tenated mines of S. svenssoni should present no problems but those of the remaining Stigmella species are almost impossible to separate.
Tischeriidae
Mine a flat whitish blotch on the top of a leaf, occasionally several mines can be found on one leaf. The mine is free of frass, which is ejected through a slit at the edge of the mine. The mine is lined with silk [9-4]		Tischeria ekebladella 123
Mine a flat brownish blotch on top of a leaf with darker concentric rings on the upper surface of the leaf. No frass in mine which is ejected through a slit. The mine is lined with silk [9		Tischeria dodonaea 124
Heliozelidae
Mine starts in twig proceeding into base of leaf via petiole. When almost fully fed it cuts out an oval hole in the base of the leaf measuring 4 x 2mm to 5 x 3mm. Occasionally two larvae mine the same twig resulting in a hole being cut out from either side of the leaf [6-7]		Heliozela sericiella 154
Bucculatricidae
Mine short, often contorted close to midrib, frass black. After leaving mine larva eats out windows from underside of leaf [7+9-10]		Bucculatrix ulmella 274
Gracillariidae
1	Mine with epidermal gallery on underside leading to a subquadrate blotch about 5mm across (triangular if in angle of veins); larva feeds later in a cone on the leaf-margin	2
	Mine formed otherwise	3
2	Univoltine; mine occupied July - August, cone September - October	Caloptilia alchimiella 286
	Bivoltine; mine occupied May and August, cone June and September - October *	Caloptilia robustella 287
	*N.B. The second generation cones of C. robustella are indistinguishable from those of C. alchimiella.
3	Mine upperside, large and covering most of leaf	4
	Mine underside	5
4	Upper epidermis detached from parenchyma and silvery; mine slightly inflated [6]	Acrocercops brongniardella 313
	Mine otherwise	Hymenoptera spp.
5	Larva mines only when young, feeding later in a cone on the leaf margin [6-9]	Caloptilia leucapennella 292
	Larva mines throughout
6	Mine on Evergreen Oak (Quercus ilex)[3-4+7+10]	Phyllonorycter messaniella 321
	Mine on deciduous species	7
7	Mine appearing to have no creases in lower epidermis	8
	Mine with visible creases in lower epidermis	10
8	Mine less than 10mm long, usually in lobe or on edge of leaf (Autumn generation only) [7+9-10]	Phyllonorycter heegeriella 317
	Mine more than 17mm long	9
9	Pupa in cocoon attached to central green patch in the upper epidermis; mine 17-20mm long, strongly contorting leaf [7-8]	Phyllonorycter roboris 316
	Pupa without a cocoon, but in a silken web; mine 22-28mm long, often several in one leaf causing leaf to distort considerably [7-9]	Phyllonorycter distentella 346
10	Lower epidermis with numerous small creases	11
	Lower epidermis with a least one large crease	12
11	Very small mine usually in lobe or on edge of leaf, cocoon occupying most of mine (autumn generation only) [7+9-10]	Phyllonorycter heegeriella 317
	Mine underside, small, usually on margin when leaf-edge folds right over almost concealing mine, preferring high branches; pupa in flimsy, lace like cocoon [7+9-11]	Phyllonorycter kuhlweiniella 319
12	Cocoon incorporating no frass	13
	Cocoon incorporating frass	14
13	13 Mine less than 14mm long; cocoon attached to both upper and lower epidermis (summer generation only) [6-7+9-10]	Phyllonorycter harrisella 315
	Mine more than 20mm long, almost always between veins extending from midrib, often several mines in a leaf [7+9-10]	Phyllonorycter lautella 351
14	Mine 11mm or more long	15
	Mine 10mm or less long, cocoon attached to both upper and lower epidermis (summer generation only [7+9-10]	Phyllonorycter heegeriella 317
15	Cocoon attached to upper epidermis only	16
	Cocoon attached to both upper and lower epidermis	17
16	Cocoon completely covered in frass (summer generation only); mine irregular in shape positioned anywhere on leaf [7+9-10]	Phyllonorycter quercifoliella 320
	Cocoon only lined with frass; a long mine between two veins and extending from midrib [7+9-10]	Phyllonorycter muelleriella 322
17	Cocoon flimsy and only loosely attached to the upper epidermis, usually lined with only a little frass [3-4+7+10]	Phyllonorycter messaniella 321
	Cocoon strong with frass edging giving a distinct U or V shape	18
18	Mine with small patch of uneaten parenchyma on the upper leaf epidermis to which the cocoon is firmly attached (autumn generation only) [7+9-10]	Phyllonorycter quercifoliella 320
	Mine with a patch of parenchyma on upper epidermis usually left uneaten, frass either deposited on each side of pupa or pupa completely covered [6-7+9-10]	Phyllonorycter harrisella 315
	At present it is almost impossible to distinguish between several of the autumn mines of the oak feeding Phyllonorycters. Those presenting the most problems are Phyllonorycter quercifoliella, P. messaniella and P. heegeriella. However they can usually be determined by examination of the larva or the pupal case. It now appears that those mines that yield P. quercifoliella have the cocoon adhered very firmly to an uneaten patch of green on the upper leaf epidermis. Those yielding P. messaniella have no uneaten parenchyma at all and are only rather loosely attached to the upper epidermis.
	A description of the larva is as follows: P. quercifoliella: Head light brown, body pale whitish green, gut darker green. P. messaniella: Head brown, body yellow, anterior segments opaque whitish yellow. P. heegeriella: Head very pale greenish brown, body pale whitish green, gut darker.
	Breeding through Phyllonorycters is fairly easy and should be attempted wherever possible to determine the species.
	N.B. Other species of insects also mine oak leaves especially Sawflies.