Food Plant: Picea abies (Norway Spruce)

Egg: Laid on a twig

Mine: July-April

Notes: Mines a shoot and overwinters as a small larva before resuming feeding in the spring. Makes a small hole close to the shoot tip, usually on the underside of the shoot (as shown0 , before pupation. Mining activity causes the leaves to discolour and then fall off leaving a bare twig (as shown). In this case shown a side shoot is developing just above the mined area.

Data: 12.v.2023, Slade Wood, Monmouthshire, VC35

Image:© George Tordoff