Gracillariidae

15.0905 Phyllocnistis asiatica Martynova, 1955

Unknown

Similar species: Check genitalia to distinguish from other Phyllocnistis spp.

Forewing: 3 to 3.5mm

Habitats: Marshes and fens. It was first found in the UK at Wicken Fen, Cambridgeshire in 2018. It is distributed from France to the Netherlands, south to Italy and across to Austria, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Habits:

Foodplant: The larva mines a shoot then via the petiole migrates to a leaf where it forms a wildly zig-zagging gallery mine on the lower surface of a leaf of White Willow. On mainland Europe it is also known to feed on Crack Willow, Weeping Willow, Purple Willow and other Salix spp. Bark mines are short. It passes from one leaf to another via the petiole. The final gallery usually ends at a leaf margin where the larva pupates under a silk membrane in a folded edge.