21.001 BF263 - Lyonetiidae - Lyonetiinae - Lyonetia clerkella

21.001 BF263 - Lyonetiidae - Lyonetiinae - Lyonetia clerkella - Apple Leaf-miner - (Linnaeus, 1758)

Adult Micro: CAT 1 - Distinctive Species - Leaf-miner: CAT L - The leaf or a Photo required -

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- Generally Common / Widespread - Leaf Miner

Taxonomy: Micro >> . >> Lyonetiidae

ID Difficulty: green

- easy to identify, generally distinctive and unlikely to be confused with other species.

ID pointers: Very tiny. Overall whitish body, head and forewing. Long white antennae and legs. An orange-brown elongated spot towards costa at about two thirds and an angular greyish cross-band beyond. A distinct black spot at the wing apex.

Distribution: Appears to be well spread across Derbyshire and leaf mines found frequently. Suspect it is reasonably common in most parts of the county. It is probably overlooked as it is so tiny.

Flight Period: June / July / August / September / - On the wing in June – September.

Mine Period: May / June / July / September / October / - The egg is found inside the leaf cuticle. A long mine with broken black frass. A very common species that mines numerous Rosaceae (especially Malus (Apple) and Prunus (Cherry) also Betula (Birch). Photo shown of the mine on Malus (Apple).

Moth Activity: Cathemeral - and is attracted to light

*** Last updated on 24 February 2025 by TD ***

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Wingspan: 8-9mm

Food Plant: Hawthorn, Cherry, Apple, Birch, Blackthorn, Rowan & other Rosaceae

Recorded dates for Common [Blue-coded ] moths are not stored on the website at this current time.

IMAGES BELOW: Melbourne, Derbyshire – Tony Davison © / Leaf Mine – September 2022- Wyver Lane, Belper – Dave Evans © / Buxton – Jon Mortin©