Gracillariidae

15.004 Alder Stilt Caloptilia elongella (Linnaeus, 1761)

Common

Similar species: Caloptilia betulicola has overlapping colour forms. Unless bred from a larva check the genitalia.

Forewing: 6.5 to 8.5mm

Habitats: Marshes, fens and river-banks.

Habits: The moth comes to light.

Foodplant: The larva at first lives in an irregular gallery on the upperside of a leaf of Alder, Italian Alder or Grey Alder. This mine leads to a blotch over a vein. The larva then lives in a small pocket formed from a rolled leaf margin and eventually in a leaf rolled lengthways which uses between half and the entire length of the leaf. Two of these rolled leaves are used before it is full-fed and pupates under a membrane on the underside of a leaf.