Nepticulidae

04.060 Red-headed Dot Stigmella ruficapitella (Haworth, 1828)

Common

Similar species:

Forewing: 2 to 3mm

Habitats: Wherever oaks are present.

Habits:

Foodplant: The larva forms a narrow gallery mine in an oak leaf. It usually follows the leaf margin then enters the centre of the leaf after a sharp turn and soon widens into a fairly long, broad gallery. The frass at the beginning of the mine is at first linear, but as the mine widens it becomes dispersed. It pupates in a cocoon in the leaf litter.