''Phyllonorycter spinicolella'', also known as the sloe midget, is a

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

of the family

Gracillariidae Gracillariidae is an important family of insects in the order Lepidoptera and the principal family of leaf miners that includes several economic, horticultural or recently invasive pest species such as the horse-chestnut leaf miner, ''Cameraria ...

, first described by the German

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

Philipp Christoph Zeller Philipp Christoph Zeller (8 April 1808 – 27 March 1883) was a German entomologist. Zeller was born at Steinheim an der Murr, Württemberg, two miles from Marbach, the birthplace of Schiller. The family moved to Frankfurt (Oder) where Ph ...

in 1846. It is probably present in all of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

is 6–8 mm. The posterior tarsi are whitish. Forewings are golden-ochreous; a white median streak from base to near middle, dark-margined above; dorsum narrowly white towards base; four costal and three dorsal shining white anteriorly dark-margined wedge-shaped spots, first dorsal sometimes connected with basal streak; a blackish elongate apical dot. Hindwings are light grey. The larva is green- whitish; dorsal line dark green; head pale greenish. It is very similar to '' Phyllonorycter cerasicolella'' and study of the genitalia is essential for determination. Adults are on wing in May and again in August in two generations per year. The

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e feed on cherry plum (''

Prunus cerasifera __NOTOC__ ''Prunus cerasifera'' is a species of plum known by the common names cherry plum and myrobalan plum.Prunus domestica ''Prunus domestica'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Rosaceae. A deciduous tree, it includes many varieties of the fruit trees known as plums in English, though not all plums belong to this species. The greengages and damsons als ...

''), bird cherry (''

Prunus padus ''Prunus padus'', known as bird cherry, hackberry (unrelated to the genus ''Celtis''), hagberry, or Mayday tree, is a flowering plant in the Rosaceae, rose family. It is a species of cherry, a deciduous small tree or large shrub up to tall. It ...

'') and blackthorn (''

Prunus spinosa ''Prunus spinosa'', called blackthorn or sloe, is an Old World species of flowering plant in the rose family, Rosaceae. It is locally naturalized in parts of the New World. The fruits are used to make sloe gin in Britain and patxaran in B ...

''). They mine the leaves of their host plant.

References

External links

Lepiforum de
spinicolella Leaf miners Moths described in 1846 Moths of Europe Taxa named by Philipp Christoph Zeller {{Phyllonorycter-stub