Food Plant: Acer pseudoplatanus (Sycamore), Acer platanoides (Norway Maple)Elsewhere: Acer monspessulanum (Montpellier maple)

Egg: on the underside of a leaf

Mine: late Summer

Notes: This species initially makes an irregular, half-depth, silvery blotch on the upperside of the leaf, often with many diverticula. It then forms cones in the lobes of the leaf in a similar manner to Caloptilia rufipennella. This enables separation from Caloptilia rufipennella as, in this species, the initial blotch is whitish to brown and lower surface and in the angle between veins. First discovered in the UK in 2019 in Folkestone (Harper & Roberts, 2019). Here a silver initial mine (from which an adult was reared and dissected to confirm the identification) is visible on Acer pseudoplatanus in the field.

Data: 22.ix.2022, Dungeness, Kent, VC15

Image:© Will Langdon