Kingdom Animalia Class Insecta Family Gracillariidae Scientific name Caloptilia leucapennella | Phylum Arthropoda Order Lepidoptera Genus Caloptilia Rank Species | |
Similar Caloptilia, Caloptilia cuculipennella, Caloptilia elongella, Caloptilia populetorum, Butterflies and moths | ||
Caloptilia leucapennella is a moth of the Gracillariidae family. It is known from all of Europe, except the Balkan Peninsula.
The wingspan is about 13 mm. The typical form of the adult is a pale yellowish white, but there are variations, ranging to the rufous form F. aurantiella. Adults are on wing from July to October and overwinter.
The larvae feed on Quercus ilex and Quercus robur. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine starts as a narrow lower-surface epidermal gallery, that widens into an oval, eventually full depth blotch between two side veins. Older larvae live freely, at first in a folded leaf margin, later in a partly rolled leaf tip. They possibly prefer young leaves.
References
Caloptilia leucapennella Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA