Gracillariidae

15.008 Oak Stilt Caloptilia alchimiella (Scopoli, 1763)

Common

Similar species: Caloptilia robustella has the yellow at the base of the wing gradually (rather than fairly sharply) shade into the brown. Also the yellow triangle on the leading edge of the forewing does not gradually taper away towards the wing tip.

Forewing: 5 to 6mm

Habitats: Deciduous woodland.

Habits: The moth rests on tree trunks and fences and occasionally comes to light.

Foodplant: As with Caloptilia robustella the larva at first forms a narrow gallery mine which regularly overlaps itself on the underside of an oak leaf. The mine leads to a rectangular or triangular full depth mine in a vein axil. It later lives in a succession of two or three rolled down leaf cones at the tip of a lobe where it feeds on the undersurface. It pupates under a pale green membrane under a leaf.