Gracillariidae

15.010 Willow Stilt Caloptilia stigmatella (Fabricius, 1781)

Common

Similar species:

Forewing: 6 to 7mm

Habitats: Deciduous woodland, woodland margins, gardens, parks, marshes and fens.

Habits: The moth comes to light.

Foodplant: The larva feeds on the leaves of Black Poplar, White Poplar, Grey Poplar, Aspen, Osier Willow, Crack Willow, White Willow, Grey Willow, Creeping Willow, other poplars and willows and occasionally birches. At first it forms a long narrow gallery often following the midrib then angled towards a small puckered blotch towards the leaf margin. It then forms a succession of two of three downward cones at the leaf tip of some species or folded leaf margins on others. It pupates under a membrane on the underside or occasionally on the upperside of a leaf.