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). This species initially makes an irregular, half-depth, silvery blotch on the upperside of the leaf, often with many diverticula. Many larvae do not survive beyond this stage, but their aborted mines can still be found. The mine in this image shows the larva visible in the centre when the mine is backlit. The mine has the depth of mines that are completed by larvae that go on to form cones.

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

Image:© Will Langdon