Ectoedemia occultella

Ectoedemia occultella, the small birch leafminer, is a moth of the family Nepticulidae. It has a Holarctic distribution. It is found in most of Europe, east through Russia (where it has been recorded from Murmansk, Karelia, Leningrad, Samara and Tatarstan and Sakhalin) to Japan. It is also present in North America. Mines very similar to that of Ectoedemia occultella have been found on Rosaceae species in Nepal and Japan and these may belong to this species.

Mined birch leaf

Larva

Ectoedemia occultella
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nepticulidae
Genus:	Ectoedemia
Species:	E. occultella
Binomial name
Ectoedemia occultella (Linnaeus, 1767)
Synonyms
Phalaena occultella Linnaeus, 1767 Lyonetia argentipedella Zeller, 1839 Nepticula flexuosella Fologne, 1859 Tinea mediofasciella Haworth, 1828 Tinea mucidella Hubner, 1817 Tinea strigilella Thunberg, 1794 Nepticula lindquisti Freeman, 1962 Ectoedemia lindquisti

The wingspan is 5–7 mm. The head is grey, the face whitish. Forewings are light grey irrorated with dark fuscous and with a very indistinct oblique whitish fascia before middle, usually partly or wholly obsolete ; a small tornal spot and larger triangular spot on costa somewhat beyond it ochreous-white. Hindwings grey.[1] Adults are on wing from May to July.

The larvae feed on Betula ermani, Betula grossa, Betula humilis, Betula nana, Betula obscura, Betula pendula and Betula pubescens. It has also been recorded from Salix pentandra in Finland. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine consists of a round, primary, upper-surface blotch without a visible initial corridor. There are often several mines in one leaf. The mine has a dark centre, where the larva often retreats.